Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardThe best seat in the house at the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater in the Civic Center depends on your intentions, says Mike Spaulding, director of ticketing and events.
Mike Spaulding started his career at Oncenter in 1997, selling tickets to events at theaters in the Civic Center as well as the Onondaga County War Memorial "over the counter," as he puts it.
Spaulding's marched steadily up the ticket-selling ranks.
"Assistant box office manager. Box office manager. My title now is director of ticketing and events," the Syracuse native says.
He’s got a tour bus full of experience listening to customers.
So, Mike Spaulding, what are the best seats in the house among the 2,117 available when the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater is set up to fit that maximum?
“It all depends on what your intentions are,” he says.
Spread out and enjoy
Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardThis is the view from seats 19 and 20 in row A at the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater in the John Mulroy Civic Center.
Spaulding says his personal favorites are orchestra level Row A, seats 20 and 21, smack in the middle of 40-seat-wide row.
That’s the very first row when Syracuse Opera shows necessitate that musicians sit and perform in the sunken orchestra pit between row A and the raised stage. For concerts and comics, Spaulding says, the floor of the pit is raised to the same level as the permanent seating to fit six extra rows. For Broadway shows, they raise the pit but roll in three additional rows of seating instead of six.
In any case, there’s always more leg room for those in Row A.
“You can walk right through the area if you come in a tad late, and not disturb the people around you,” Spaulding says. “It’s great for shows like ‘Sesame Street,’ where you have kids who like to be up and dancing, and you might bring a diaper bag and need to spread out.”
The view of the stage strikes his fancy, too.
“It’s close enough that you feel part of the show, but far enough back that you’re not looking up at the stage like when you’re in pit seats,” he says.
Exit, stage left ... or right
Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardThis is the view from the lower level end seats at the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater in the John Mulroy Civic Center. There's no break in the rows, so many people ask for aisle seats.
All three levels of seating in the theater that opened on Jan. 15, 1976, utilize what Spaulding calls “continental seating.”
That means every row in the place runs continuously from the left to the right aisle, with no break in the middle of the theater.
Armed with that knowledge, many patrons ask for seats on either aisle, “so they can get up and go to the lobby with less trouble,” Spaulding says.
There, up in the sky
Another popular choice for Crouse-Hinds Concert Theatergoers is the first row in the second level, the mezzanine.
They prefer the distance from the stage and the view from above.
“It’s kind of like having a big-screen TV in your house,” Spaulding says. “You don’t want to sit too close to it.”
Look out below
On the other hand, some people who want to sit on the orchestra level are wary about having the edge of the mezzanine level directly overhead. Yes, the ledge is plenty close to those sitting in mezzanine Row A.
The element of "look out!" comes into play for those sitting in orchestra Row Q.
“Things fall,” Spaulding says.
“One time, somebody got sick over the mezzanine (ledge). We got the cleaning bill for somebody’s coat who was sitting below,” he says.
Boxed in and loving it
Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardThis is the view from box seats on the mezzanine level at the Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater in the John Mulroy Civic Center.
There's a certain amount of prestige attached to sitting in a box, Spaulding says.
Those are the self-contained squares visible on each side of the theater.
The mezzanine level holds eight, four on each side, and the balcony level holds six, three on each side.
Each box contains six chairs that can be wheeled about. Two of them are a couple inches higher than the other four, so people who sit in the rear of the box can see over those in front of them.
“They’re at an angle somewhat (to the stage), but it can be just you and your friends,” Spaulding says.
Unlike boxes at some venues, there’s no one-fee-gets-every-event pricing of the boxes.
That's because three organizations — Famous Artists Broadway Theater Series, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and the Syracuse Opera — have traditionally sold their own season subscriptions to theater events, including seats for the boxes.
Murray Bernthal, director of Famous Artists before he died at the age of 99 in December, "always had the first box, mezzanine level, looking at the stage to the left," Spaulding says.
He's working with Famous Artists and its partner, NAC Enterprises of Binghamton, "to do something special with that box next season," Spaulding says.
Go ahead, drink ... quietly
A new rule this year allows food and beverages be brought into the theater, Spaulding says.
Nevertheless, certain common-sense standards still apply.
“For the symphony, you can’t bring in anything that will crackle, tinkle, crinkle or make a distracting noise,” Spaulding says. “We don’t sell beverages with ice in them for the symphony.”
For concerts, though, the concession stands at the theater sell ice in drinks as well as beer and wine.
"For the Goo Goo Dolls (rock show), plenty of people bought beer," Spaulding says. "The symphony, it's not a big beer-drinking crowd. More wine, mixed drinks. Coffee."
Usher may hold you back
Another Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater standard that sometimes surprises first-timers is the get-there-on-time policy for some events.
For some productions, ushers are told to hold late-arriving patrons at the back doors until an appropriate break in the play or concert.
That’s why there are TVs that show action on the stage in the lobby outside the orchestra level, Spaulding says.
“They show cues that tell ushers when people can be let in,” he says.
--Mark Bialczak can be reached at 470-2175 or mbialczak@syracuse.com.
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