Tuck in! This is going to be a rant folks.
A few years back I managed to score tickets to both Hadestown AND Six on Broadway. I was going to go down to NYC and stay with a friend, travel all by myself on the magical April school break, see both original Broadway casts over 2 days and get back by bus like the adult I am. I was ecstatic. Then a little something called Covid-19 hit us in March and dashed my plans down the proverbial gutter.
Flash forward exactly 1 year. Broadway is up and running. I purchase tickets again. Same week. Same two shows – minus the original casts, but hey. I grab my bestie, a great hotel. Only this time I get Covid, I’m down for the count and we have to cancel.
One year ago, FINALLY, I get half of my wish, and I snag tickets to SIX in Buffalo. Me and the bestie day trip-it the hour and a half to our snowy sister-city and have an absolute blast rocking out with the six queens. And I make a promise to take the oldest niece to see this show the second it comes to Syracuse. And I do! And I did! Yesterday! In fact, I and my two amazing sister in-laws took all three nieces to the 1pm matinee this afternoon. It was, of course, the same absolute blast of a rock show and the girls loved it, and I couldn’t be happier that I got to share the experience with them.
But…
Syracuse: I got some complaints.
First off, the difference between Buffalo and Syracuse is pretty palpable. When best friend and I drove there last May we found parking. Actual parking. Like immediately. At first, we were confused. It was an open lot, there were only a few other cars, and the lot was unattended. I mean, we were early, and it was a Sunday. But it was still fairly sparse. We didn’t know what to do! We left the car, walked around the block and came back, just to see if more cars showed up while we were gone. They had, and it seemed everyone was going to the same place as us. The second surprise was even better: Buffalo has something we theatre people like to call, a “Theatre District”. It’s a wonderous place where all of the theaters in town come together in one area. Now, I know as lifetime Syracusans we have no knowledge of such things. I myself have only seen one when going to NYC. But rounding the corner in Buffalo for the first time, laying eyes on the theatre marquis for SIX, my eyes widened, and I actually shed a tear when I realized that the theatre we were headed towards was also sharing a lovely cobblestoned street with many other smaller theatres where other shows were playing! It was so beautiful and welcoming. I couldn’t believe it. Tons of parking AND a Theatre District!! Amazing.
Back to yesterday. We already know parking is rough in this town. The Landmark Theatre might be the prettiest theatre in the county, certainly the only one with a marquis we can take selfies of ourselves under but damn it’s hard to park anywhere near the place, isn’t it? And parking just went up a dollar for events. It was $15 last week. This week it’s up to $16. The lady running the garage I parked in told me that if I were to purchase an abandoned building downtown and turn it into a parking lot, I would be a millionaire by the end of the week. I don’t think she is joking.
Sunday is free street parking, but it doesn’t matter, there isn’t any. I drop an obscene amount of money on a souvenir for each kid, but it’s ok I planned for that! Nothing for me thanks, I got myself a shirt last time. And we head for the over-crowded ladies’ rooms (the only part of the Landmark I truly appreciate) for a safety pee. And even though we left the house an hour early we only have seven minutes left to get to our seats. We are in the third row of the balcony, “The cheap seats” yes, but I reasoned the kids could see better from here because the seats lift you up higher and the girls wouldn’t have to worry about a taller person blocking their view. But my smarter sister-in-law informs me that I am definitely going to regret this. She remembers Hamilton. Multitudes of people coming in late and walking in front of us. The sides opening and bringing in light, making it difficult to concentrate on the show. More people getting up and walking in front of us. She swore never to sit in the balcony again.
I do not remember this. I am sure it will be fine. Besides, it’s one act! And a rock show! It will be too loud, and we will be having too much fun for ANYTHING to disturb us.
The show starts five minutes late I assume to accommodate all of those late people my sister-in-law warned me about. And when the downbeat hits and the crowd goes wild, people are still coming in late, and sure enough they are walking in front of us, standing in front of us, walking up and down the aisle, lost, talking loudly. The ushers are flashing their little lights, asking the girls in front of us what row they are sitting in (as if they would know) None of the late comers have a clue where to go. The Ushers are struggling to help. No one can see because the fancy little lights on the floor of most theatres that show you where the seats are? Those don’t exist in the Landmark. And in the balcony the stairs go straight up! It isn’t just difficult for a person with disabilities to get up those stairs, it’s impossible!
Two whole numbers into the show and people are still pouring in. There is this walkway in the Landmark between the Mezzanine and the Balcony, and it is eternally busy. This where the ushers are ushering people back and forth. It is where people from the mezzanine get up and cross the exit from and run across the go out to the bathroom (though why you would need to leave during an hour long show to go to the bathroom in beyond me…SAFETY PEE BEFORE THE SHOW PEOPLE!) Thankfully the kids are able to ignore it. But my sister-in-law has the look of I Told you so on her face that I know I am never going to live down. But I am also honestly stunned. We are twenty minutes into this thing. How late can you be??? Because we aren’t talking about a half-dozen people here. I’m watching both ends of the theatre. It looks like fifty to seventy people who were still being seated. I actually watched a row of seven ladies come in and DISPLACE a couple who had to leave because they had the wrong seats!! The wife had come in with two canes. The only way she could go back down the stairs was on her behind! One step at a time. At the bottom stair she used her canes to stand up and then limp over to her husband and together they left and didn’t return. Now if the party of seven had arrived on time, the situation could have been figured out before the show started! It was dreadful. I want to scream at all of them for their bad manners and lack of decorum and the amount of money I have spent – heck, the amount of money THEY have spent! Have they no shame?! This is live Theatre!!!
But I am starting to wonder…what if, like me and my bestie, what if some of these late comers are from out of town? And upon arriving in Syracuse, instead of finding an open parking lot and a beautiful theatre district, they ended up driving in circles looking for parking. They arrive at maybe 12:15 or 12:30 for the 1pm performance thinking they have time to spare. But Sunday afternoon was crowded with brunch goers and Syracuse parking pros who got there early to find free street parking blocks away! Or if you are like us, you gave up quickly and went straight to your favorite garage, paid your $16 and walked the two blocks, no questions asked.
But I’ve lived here my whole life, and I realize I only know a handful of spots where I can pay to park for the Landmark and none of those places are immediately obvious to an out-of-towner. So, minus 15 minutes off of the parking time and another 10 for walking IF you are an able walker, 20 if you aren’t. You are pushing the limits of Curtain Time now and you still have to get through the ticket line and security check. But those two things go fairly quickly at the Landmark I am happy to report, so you are in! Now to find your seat!
UPSTAIRS! I am unfamiliar with the ways in which this incredible ancient building was refurbished many years ago in order to accommodate the level of National Touring companies now performing at the Landmark AND Civic Center. I only know that for one reason or another they were unable to make the upper-level handicap accessible. There-fore, in order to access the cheaper seats of the house, you must be able to walk up the stairs. A LOT of them. The main staircase only gets you so far…once you reach the landing you then go right or left and go STRAIGHT up another flight of stairs. It is perilous if you are not young and in shape. I’m fine of course, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I haven’t grabbed that railing on the way down at the end of a show, in a crowd.
My point is – there are stairs. And once you enter the balcony/mezzanine area, there are even more stairs. If you have been lucky enough to purchase tickets in the $150 range, you go down the stairs. If, like the rest of us, you paid $75 (and you have small children who will only be able to see over the heads of tall adults if they sit in the cheap seats) you will now go up MORE stairs!
All of this I covered before. I am re-stating now to say that perhaps our extreme late comers were unaware of just how long it was going to take to get into Syracuse, park, walk, climb and get settled into our one and only truly beautiful (if not incredibly outdated) theatre. Which is too bad. Because when you pay such an obscene amount of money for the fantastic show, we were all trying so hard to watch. Not only did the late comers miss the first 20 minutes…so did the rest of the balcony!
And if I didn’t remember before while watching Hamilton, I will certainly remember after watching SIX: Sister-in-law #1 was right…we are NEVER sitting in the balcony of the Landmark again.
