I am looking to see Bette in Hello, Dolly this week. I have already seen Bernadette but would love to hear everyone's thoughts on which seats are the best if you're on a budget--back of mezzanine or front of balcony etc.? Does partial view orchestra really have that bad of a sight line?
If you’ve seen the show then the intimacy of the boxes are delicious. You will miss the action happening inside the curtained Harmonía Gardens dining boxes on your side but you’ll see clearly in the dining box opposite you. This will also be the case with partial view orchestra seats (not seeing action inside the box on your side).
Due to the mezzanine overhang, rear orchestra seats miss the few seconds of action taking place at the top of the Vandergelder shop scenes and many have mentioned having to slouch down when Dolly first appears at the top of the Harmonía Gardens stairs.
I saw it from SRO twice (great view) and mezzanine row H. Mezzanine was a GREAT view, not obstructed at all and feels very close, while getting the whole picture. I loved these seats so much, I actually went ahead and bought row G mezz to see Bette one final time. They’re certainly better than side orchestra and they’re cheaper. The last few rows of mezz should be avoided though from what I hear.
I saw it from the ~3rd row of the balcony and it was the perfect view. Definitely not the easiest moment for someone who is afraid of heights (like me) but after the first few minutes I calmed down and enjoyed the view. I bought the same seats to see To Kill A Mockingbird in December.
We were in the very back of the mezzanine in row K, and besides the scene in Vandergelder’s shop where Cornelius and Barnaby are on the second floor of the set, the view was pretty good and I could actually see the actors’ faces. We saw some empty seats in the third row so we moved there right at the beginning of Act 2 and the view was even better.