the cheese stands alone

Standing room at theater productions (especially opera) is a wonderful concept – it’s a great way for young, starving artists to see great performances for a low price.  If you’re not familiar with the concept – it’s the practice of having a section of the auditorium that is roped off and intended for people to watch the performance while standing up (though there’s usually a banister for leaning). Standing room is often available for Broadway productions as well – although I’ve found that the standing room section in smaller theaters is often just the back of the house – you get to lean on the rail behind the back row.  I feel a certain sense of deep artistic character when in standing room for a performance.  People in the row just in front me paying five or six times what I paid just so they can sit down.  I feel like I’m playing a wonderful joke on them – hearing and seeing the same things that they are for a fraction of the cost. 

Pros to standing room: 


Low cost  


Don’t have to move your legs for someone to get out of the aisle More freedom as to where you stand (within the section) than sit if you have a specific ticket You meet new people – lots of students, real musicians, foreign tourists, etc.  


Closer to the bar at intermission  


You can hang your coat on the banister, you don’t have to put it on the back of the chair or in the floor OR at coat check  


A sense of being a real artist – “I’ll STAND UP THE WHOLE TIME if it means that I get to see Susan Graham live from one hundred feet away”

Cons of standing room: 


You have to stand the whole time (though there’s usually a banister for leaning)  


People are more apt to whisper in standing room

But the thing that bothers me about standing room tickets at the opera – you can purchase standing room in Europe for just a few Euros (about three U.S. dollars)…standing room at the Metropolitan Opera is 17-25 bucks.  Not cool.  Standing room at NYC Opera goes for 12 bucks.  What’s the difference in standing up on the continent of Europe and standing up on the continent of North America?  Odd.