Victoria Theatre — Attraction in Dayton

This is a beautiful old theater that has been refurbished and well-maintained. The theater offers many shows for adults as well as families with small children. One concern is that the tickets are very pricey for families. Families with two working parents cannot take the entire family out to the Victoria Theatre; It would be for a special occasion only. In addition, the staff is largely made up of volunteer ushers and bartenders who are not paid and are worked like indentured servants. They are not always given a seat, and are micromanaged by the house management. The majority of them are senior citizens. When I was at a show in recent months, I noticed that ushers are now required to clean up trash after shows— including empty glasses, half full bottles, candy, wrappers, programs, beer and wine glasses, etc. This should be work assigned to paid custodians, not volunteers who are mostly over 70. It is disgraceful to be using volunteers in this way. The organization can easily afford to hire custodians. There are so many organizations that are appreciative and respectful of their volunteers; however, the Dayton Live organization is not...

Came to the Victoria Theatre to see Josh Johnson—phenomenal show, by the way, easily five stars for him. The venue itself is an absolute gem—gorgeously preserved with tasteful modern upgrades that honor its historic charm without feeling dated. Truly, a feast for the eyes.

Now... about those seats.

Clearly designed in a time when folks were smaller, sat with their ankles crossed, and possibly skipped dinner. As a well-fed, full-hipped modern American woman of African descent (shoutout to my equally blessed sisters in attendance), we found ourselves wedged into seats that felt more like suggestions than accommodations. Those little metal dividers between the seats? A menace. Our hips were in a cold war with the armrests the entire night.

BUT—we were blessed with good legroom (a rare treat for us tall girls), and honestly, Josh Johnson’s performance made it all worth it. I laughed hard enough to forget the pain… temporarily.

Come for the comedy, marvel at the architecture, but maybe bring a cushion and...

Visited this wonderful venue to see a comedy routine and was very impressed. The restoration work that was obviously performed was very good. The upstairs lobby can be a little tight, but other than that there were decent bathrooms for a historic theater, the stairways were plenty wide and easy to navigate, and there was a bar both in the main lobby and the upstairs lobby.

Seating was very comfortable and good views of the stage, but I would believe that if you were much taller than 5'10" or had really long legs, it might get a little cramped for you.

The house staff were very helpful and extremely professional. Looking forward to another performance here. As an added bonus, parking is very inexpensive around the venue. Surface lot spot was $5 and garages were...