Playhouse Square — Attraction in Cleveland

I am completely amazed with the staff here at Playhouse Square.

I attended Phantom of the Opera yesterday with my father. I have a multi-purpose service dog that comes with me everywhere, as he is trained to mitigate my disabilities. He is a decent sized dog (50 lbs. and still growing!).

We called ahead and were told that our seats would have enough room for my father (a big and tall gentleman), me, and my dog. Unfortunately when we found our seats, there was nowhere near enough room. We spoke with one of the “red-coat volunteers” (I love it!). They were very quick to get the manager to us.

As we were waiting for the manager, two groups of people offered us their seats. It’s so nice to know that fellow patrons were willing to accommodate us. They were practically walking in the dark when offering us their seats, as they had no clue where our seats were located. How amazing that they were willing to generously offer us their seats regardless of the fact that the location of our seats was unknown to them.

The manager immediately began asking her staff about the accessibility seating and if it was still available. It was! She took us downstairs to another staff member. He led us to the accessibility seating. I will say, the accessibility seating amazed me. Typically, accessibility seating has uncomfortable seats, not much room, and is very far away from the stage. This was the entire opposite! The accessibility seating was beyond perfect. TONS of room, extremely comfortable chairs (with armrests!!!), and it was so close to the stage. It was outstanding.

Due to medical reasons, I am extremely sensitive to flashing lights and loud sound. I began having a medical episode during the uncovering of the chandelier in the show. My father and I left the show, as I was becoming severely overwhelmed, having a sensory overload. I was crying on our way out. The staff made it their missions to make sure everything was alright. They offered earplugs or headphones for me. This was a generous offer (for which I am so grateful). Unfortunately, I was already too overwhelmed and just wanted to leave.

Today, my father called in to speak with the theater. He explained what happened and said that we still want to come back! We now have noise canceling headphones (typically used at gun ranges) and dark sunglasses to accommodate my sensitivities. The individual he spoke with said that they remembered us and would love for us to come back and see the full performance! They gave us a credit to come see the show again (meaning it wasn’t necessary for us to pay for new tickets). They even offered us seating in the THIRD row!! That was an extremely generous offer, knowing that the seats they offered us didn’t equal the price of our original tickets ($198 total).

I am blown away by the accommodation, hospitality, and overall generosity of this staff. This was by far the absolute best experience I have ever had when it comes to going to shows with my service dog. It’s so nice to know that there are still places that accommodate those with disabilities so well.

If you are worried about attending a performance at this theater due to your disability, have no fear. The staff here will do everything they can to make sure your experience is as enjoyable as the other audience members.

I cannot thank Playhouse Square enough! I wish I could rate higher...

I saw the Nutcracker 12/21/24.

No live orchestra for a ballet is absolutely insane. There's no other way to put it. Half of a ballet is dancing, the other half is music. At the price point it's at? Where the hell is the live music? Are you kidding me?

Aside from that, there were some serious issues with dancing and music timing. The tea girl's male partner almost dropped her, got kicked in the head, and winced when she laid on top of him. The sugar plum fairy was clunking across the stage out of time with absolutely no energy or grace. It was like watching horses in ballet shoes.

Extremely poor choreography all around. The candy cane male dancers are usually an impressive acrobatic performance at any other Nutcracker I've been to. At Cleveland Performance Hall? They do the "hula hoop goes backwards!" school yard trick and leave.

Why were the gingerbread child dancers the best on stage? Why am I being blasted with muted music from speakers when a family outing to this ballet is upwards of 1k?

It's insulting. I'm glad people that have no experience in seeing ballets, and children, seem to enjoy it- but there was a reason half the audience opted out of the standing ovation some people tried to give.

Save your money, at least for the Nutcracker this season. This was the equivalent of a community theatre show worth 20$ per person, not a city wide starlit performance.

Pass. Pass. Pass.

QUICK IMPORTANT EDIT: Not to mention the director coming out before the show to shamelessly beg for money. Oh my god. Are you serious? You already cut costs by not hiring an orchestra, stop digging into people's pockets further. What is wrong with you to the point you're that comfortable being so insulting?...

My wife and I are disappointed with the lack of communication from the Playhouse. There was no email or any contact about the cancellation of the Piano Guys. The only thing I received in the email was a confirmation of purchase. I didn't think anything of it because I knew we were coming up to the Playhouse to watch the Piano Guys and I thought the Playhouse was just making sure that I had the digital tickets that I had purchased a while ago. We drove up from about 1.75 hours away, had dinner and came to the Playhouse to attend the concert. Once we got here we were observing people just milling around, but not going in and then we found out that the Piano Guys concert was cancelled. I am extremely annoyed with the lack of communication and wasting a trip up to Cleveland. The consumption of fuel for an unnecessary trip annoys me. I then looked at the email and upon closer inspection, it showed the rescheduling of the new date for the concert. What aggravates me is that there wasn't any alert or anything to let me know that this was a change in dates and that the original concert date was cancelled. Lots of other people showed up and had no idea that the concert was cancelled. The Playhouse's lack of notification/warning/alerting is unsatisfactory. I understand that they can't control life and life happens to where there are unforeseen events that will cause cancellations. That's not what I'm complaining about. I'm complaining about the lack of professionalism when it comes to notifying stakeholders of cancellations in a manner that is clear and...