Connor Palace — Attraction in Cleveland

I just love going to this theater I really do. I really enjoy it. It's small enough so that pretty much every seat is worth getting and large enough to bring good musicals and plays to town. The staff is very friendly and very very helpful every time I go and the bartender even offered his reader glasses to us so we could see the menu lol. It's always a great time there. The one thing that I just hate is the bathroom situation. During intermission everyone runs for the bathroom of course and the line is atrocious. It does go fast I will say it does move fast and they have people like attendants in the bathroom kind of showing people which doors are open. You know you walk in and it's a long kind of hallway of stalls and they stand at the end and kind of point which direction to go for an open door. That situation with the bathrooms is not anything that they can do about it it's not like they can just build an extra wing of bathrooms. That's just the way the building is constructed And it's an old building and it's lovely and quite quaint. So I very much appreciate their efforts in helping us get to use the facilities and back to our seats before the intermission ends. The dress code there is very comfortable. It's not hoodie-toity but it can be if you want it to be. No one's going to look at you any different if you have on leggings and a sweater or if you are in business casual or even a fancier dress. Everyone is welcome and it's always a good time. It's crowded Don't get me wrong it's crowded, it's a small theater but that's part of the reason that I love it. I very much recommend going to see a show here. Yours truly is a little restaurant down the street It's not far it's like a 4-minute walk and if you're hungry or you're thirsty stop in there for a snack because they are great there as well.

Five...

The architecture is awe inspiring! The feeling one experiences walking through this palatial building is thrilling! In the 50s and early 60s we went to the movies here and for a kid, it was an unforgettable and grand treat! I'm so glad it was saved and restored for future generations. I've moved away, but when I return to Cleveland and the Playhouse with the kids and grandkids I feel such pride! We've been here many times for different events; live theater, musicals, ballet, and even movies; and every time it's been perfect! The production standards are of the highest! Tip: if sitting in the top balcony, bring binoculars! The staff and ushers have always been very courteous and helpful. For example we had a huge ticket glitch, our fault and they found a way to accommodate us anyway! They were so nice and bent over backwards to help us out! Parking across the street is convenient and not too expensive. At intermission alcoholic beverages and snacks are available, at least at each event we attended. The only negative: women's bathroom is downstairs, basement level, I don't remember ever using an elevator here, so it's a lot of down the stairs and back up the stairs to use the bathroom. Playhouse Square is a highly recommended experience! For evening events, feel free to glam up if you want, you don't have too, but it's perfectly appropriate to dress to the nines if you want. It's fun to people watch those dressed for the red carpet and join in if you want to...

SEAT LOCATION WARNING.

Usually, I'd say there's not a bad seat in the house. However, last night, I found it. Orchestra Right, Row J, seats 410 and 411. Yes, I knew they were to the far right of the stage, but I didn't worry about it, since this theater's design has been on point for every performance I've ever attended for every location in the house. I have only attended musical performances before, however - not spoken word/comedic shows.

Seeing Suzy (Eddie) Izzard has been a bucket list item for me, but I could only catch maybe half of her act, as the sound design of the theater simply couldn't handle delivering clear material to my seating area. Those directly in front and behind me had the same issues, but the sound was immediately better for those sitting 3-4 seats in from the far right.

I'm beyond disappointed, since this was a longtime dream for me, and I missed at least half of her performance because I couldn't understand the words - the echoes and reverberations through the rest of the theater seemed to bounce directly back from my corner, and combined with the speaker/subwoofer directly in front of my seat, I could only catch her words if she was facing my direction so I could read her lips.

$90 a ticket is a steal for her show, and I'd pay it again if I could...but Connor Palace should not permit sale of these seats for spoken word performances, knowing that some of the audience will not be able to understand...