Leg room at the BCPA

In a recent post to this blog a patron wrote: "I do have to recommend, though that anyone attending your fine theater who approaches a mere six feet in height, as I do, should avoid the balcony seats. I assume there is more legroom on the main floor."

Thanks for the note. Yes, there is more leg room on the main floor. And when that seating is available, our box office staff tries to encourage taller patrons to move downstairs. Some choose to. That said, others, like me (and I'm 6'2"), enjoy the height of balcony seats and the perspective I get of the stage from there.

Indeed, balcony seating has its ups and downs ...

Regrettably, regrading the balcony to create more leg room during our renovation would have required tearing the balcony out and essentially starting from scratch. Unlike the low-grade sweep to the front rows of the main floor, the balcony is structured in its stairs and levels, providing a real physical obstacle to retooling the theater to fit our increasing height. It's a problem historic theaters have on Broadway and nationwide.

Long story short, I hope everyone will come to know the limitations (a tighter fit) and advantages (a great view) of sitting in the balcony, then order early to get the seats you want most. We've tried to do a lot through our renovation of providing comfortable seating for our patrons (and the improvements have been great), but there are some realities with this almost 90 year old theater we just can't overcome as easily.

We'll also work to provide more information about this problem for you in the near future. Our box office manager recently walked through the theater with a tape measure and has lots of new facts about our space we'll share as soon as we can get them compiled ...

Patron comments
This sort of ties into a previous post about seating…my husband is 6’7” and when we last went to the symphony, we were in the balcony. We were on the main floor this time, and his FIRST comment was how much room there was…that paired with the underseat cooling made for a very enjoyable evening (not to mention Chopin).

As a teacher, I have taken classes and sat in the balcony…which is wonderful….not ONCE did I hear “I can’t see.”

Anyway- thank you for providing such a great place!
--Kelly Mathy