Acrophobia

[Giannina]

siu was mentioning vertigo and theater seating. I suffer from acrophobia and sometimes have problems with seating; I wonder how many of us do and what we do to protect ourselves, and what stories we can tell on ourselves.

As siu said the Cerritos Performing Arts Center is narrow; as a result I cannot sit anywhere higher than their lowest balcony because the theater's narrowness adds to the illusion of height and sets me off. In some theaters, notably Orange County Performing Arts Center, there are seats in the stratosphere that I can tolerate but I can’t get TO or FROM them because of the rake and openness of the aisles and steps leading to them.

A story. Unbeknownst to me my ex-daughter-in-law suffered mildly from acrophobia. I took her and my daughter to see “Cats” at OCPAC with seats in the 2nd tier. As my daughter and I walked merrily to our seats, I turned around, and lo...no daughter in-in-law. A quick look around and I found her plastered to the theater's wall with a "deer in the headlights" look on her face as she battled to regain her breath and balance in the open balcony.

Giannina

[Mel Johnson]

Audiences aren't the only ones who get acrophobia! Fokine wrote of a production of Firebird he did where he had some of the monsters coming out onto their own platforms, some rather far off the stage, and dance there. One man had to do a double tour, but couldn't do it on a platform over six feet off the stage! Fokine yelled at him, cajoled him, and finally told him, "Here, I'll show you!" and clambered up to the platform. He got out there and said to himself, "Ohhhh, I see what he means!" Swallowed hard, and did the double tour. The double tour was out for that particular monster in that particular production.

[dido]

Both Jordan Hall and the Wang in Boston give me vertigo... Once I make it to my seat I'm there for the duration, can't even stand up during intermissions. The worst though was going to baseball games at Camden Yards. You can't even see the numbers on unforms from the upper decks. I'd just close my eyes and hang on to the jacket of a friend and trust him to pull me to the right spot.

[Mel Johnson]

I was in a production of HMS Pinafore once, as Sir Joseph Porter (K.C.B.) and in the second act, I was supposed to take the vapours on hearing the Captain swear! I was on for the first time in this role, having been understudy for the first cast. I was supposed to reel across the quarterdeck and fall over the rail in a forward roll 8 feet into the waiting chorus, who were supposed to catch me. I flinched going over, and they backed off, owing to the unfamiliar movement.

A

a

a

a

a

a

(WHAM!)

My next line had extra punch that night:

My pain and my distress,

I find it is not easy to express.

(The chorus was now helping me from flat on my back to my feet)

(Guffaws from audience)

My amazement, my surprise,

You may learn from the expression of my eyes.

(Which I was informed by a reliable source were looking out into the audience, crossed)

(Pandemonium)

[Funny Face]

I've never had problems with where I've sat in any settng. But, I do identify with this problem in performance. Many years ago, I was dancing on a platform 30 feet above the stage in a Las Vegas industrial show. I kept thinking of the fall Ann Margret took and it gave me the shudders. I just had to focus on what I was doing, but I didn't enjoy it, particularly on such a narrow space that far up. I guess these experiences are rites of passage in a performer's life.

[vagansmom]

I don't have acrophobia but I DO occasionally have trouble with claustrophobia in theaters. The very first time it happened came within moments of being seated at the New Amsterdam Theater in NYC for a performance of the Lion King. We had perfect seats - 8th row center. But as anyone who's familiar with that theater can tell you, one is seated sardine-like.

I felt an overwhelming need to jump up and run out of the theater and had just decided that I was simply going to HAVE to at least take a walk to the back of the theater when the music started and the large animals filled the aisles as they made their entrance. There was no way I could follow through without becoming part of the show myself. At that point, luckily, my sense of decorum took over and I swallowed hard and remained seated. But I fought that feeling for the rest of the show.

[Georgia]

Dido, I think the Shubert Theatre in Boston is the worst. I feel like I'm falling over the whole time I'm sitting in the balcony seating. And when you sit, it's like your knees are in your face. Can't these old dusty theatres replace seating like many of the movie theatres have?

[Old Fashioned]

My first time being in the Wortham was in the very top level- the balcony section. My friends and I were so scared we decided to stand up behind the wall that separated the rows of seats from us for the first act of the ballet. We were too afraid to look for our seats and didn't understand how the ushers could jog up and down the extremely steep and narrow stairs. When we finally found them and sat down (after clinging to the stair railing for our dear lives), we realized the row in front of us was practically beneath our feet. We felt the section was so high up, we lovingly refer to it as the "nose-bleed" section of the theater. The backdrop of the stage was hardly visible from where we sat. I have never sat in that section since (I've only been back up there for a tour I was giving; second time around wasn't so bad. Now, the balcony boxes were scary to go down into.)

[dido]

Oh Georgia, I forgot about the Schubert :green: . Last time I was there was for Escape from the Seraglio, and boy were we up high... and as someone with a pretty largish frame I thought I might cry before the evening was over. Worse than an airplane.

I still think Jordan Hall is the worst, even though it must be the shortest theater in Boston, because it's so crooked.