The Maryland Theatre — Attraction in Hagerstown

This review is based on a Ron White comedy show only. I've been to the MD Theatre several times for other events (various concerts and even my high school graduation) and had no issues. We were in the upper section, DD, seats 101 and 102 on Oct 30 2016 for the 7pm show. The woman a few seats to our right was drunk and could not shut up. It was so bad that less than 10 minutes into the show, Ron White actually told her to stop talking during the show. 5 minutes after that, Ron had to tell the audio guy to turn off the Allman Brothers music that was playing into the speakers on stage...strange. Anyway, remember that we were all the way up in the balcony section. You would think that anyone loud enough to catch the comedian's attention from that distance would have caught the attention of theater staff. Nope. For the next 20 minutes, she yelled a few times and was talking non-stop, so we finally said something to her which helped some. Her drunk husband had to physically restrain her several times because she kept sticking her hands up into the spotlight beam shining onto Ron White (side note, row DD is in direct line of the spotlight...around seat 104...so unless you want that hitting you in the head for the entire show, I would sit elsewhere). People to her right were saying something, people in front of her tried to get her to shut up, her husband couldn't control her. It finally got completely ridiculous, then Ron lit up a cigar and it stunk up the place about 5 minutes before the end of the show, so we got up and left the theater. I think the issue was obviously the alcohol. The show started at 7, and so many people were completely wasted before the opening act even came on stage. This woman's husband got up at one point to go get more drinks around 7:15, and he would have fallen over if he wouldn't have grabbed onto my arm as he exited the row. This is truly pathetic behavior for an environment like this. I blame the MD Theatre for several reasons. First, they were obviously serving alcohol well before the show started. They continued serving alcohol throughout the entire show which sucks when you are seated in tight rows and have to stand up every time someone passes by. There were so many people coming in and out to either purchase more alcohol or to use the restroom. Every time that happens, you miss a joke or part of a story. In my opinion, you should serve alcohol before the show and possibly at intermission (if there is one), so maybe it made sense to serve up through the opening act, but that's it. Stop serving drinks after the show begins. It's a 1-hour act. At a minimum, it's the responsible thing to do so people possibly sober up a little before getting into the car. I guess the MD Theatre must make so much money off alcohol that they do not give a crap about common sense guidelines. BTW, I am not some anti-alcohol person. I drink, I get it, but adults who do not know when to stop really annoy me. Bottom line is that the show was decent, not great, the theater staff is oblivious to major disruptions, and I'll never go back here for a show like this. Maybe we should have expected this kind of behavior considering that Ron White drinks alcohol on stage and jokes about drunk driving...

I have been to multiple theaters. This is probably the worst one I have ever been to. First of all, on the balcony the seating is absolutely the worst I have ever seen. Now I am not a large person, but I struggled to find any legroom whatsoever. The seats were crammed so close together you could not fit your feet or legs comfortably. Due to the nature of the closeness of the seats, this also make it impossible to see the stage. I have no idea why this place has so many good reviews. We had to stand in the back due to my wife feeling anxious due to how smothering everything was. I agreed with her. It felt like we were a can of sardines. We went to see whose line is it anyway and were unable to enjoy the show due to how bad the seating was.

Another thing that bothered me was there was no security of any kind checking people or bags. This was made worse when right outside a little down the street was a guy holding a gun pushing some young girl across the street as we were leaving. I would not feel safe going back here. Nor would I want to due to the absolute horrible seating.

As for the pros I can offer this:

The seats themselves were plushy enough to be comfortable if it wasn't for the lack of legroom.

The theater itself was gorgeous.

The audio was well done.

Parking was free after 5pm on weekends and wasn't too terrible to find.

Edit response: we don't live in Maryland so we couldn't have gone to the box office. That still does not solve the issue.

We did talk to your staff about the leg room and the feeling of being claustrophobic and they had us sit in the back, which would have been fine but because the seats are so close together we were unable to see the show. We literally had to stand in order to even see the stage. There's no getting around this. The seats are way too close together and I'm baffled that you don't understand this.

While there were police officers outside directing traffic, there was no bag check or security screen of any kind. The cast of the show even mentioned how there was no one there to make sure no one could come up...

The historic Maryland theatre is just that, historic. The architecture and design are true to a different time. They've recently renovated the entrance which allows for more space before going into the theatre itself. They've added limited alcoholic options. Parking is in nearby garages, all within walking distance. They're regularly put on shows, plays, recitals, concerts, etc. We saw Michael Bolton a few years back and just this December, the 1st National Tour of Christmas in Killarney. My biggest complaint is with their operations. Both shows we paid for box seats. With the box seats, an usher takes you directly to them. But both shows, were asked multiple times to show our tickets, usually to the same usher that put us there in the 1st place. They ask the whole box and someone is usually sent somewhere else. It's an honest mistake, but it has happened at both shows, years apart and usually after the show has already started. This year I had turned my phone off for the show, and then had to miss the 1st 5 minutes while turning it back on and dealing with someone else being in the wrong seats. It's disruptive and inconvenient. I also am unhappy with the seat itself, it's directly next to an organ. I imagine it's not easy to move the organ but then the seats should not be sold. We paid premium pricing for a premium seat that folks in the back of the balcony could see better than we could. They should seriously consider removing the seats from shows. I don't mean to rant but it's been unfair to the consumer. We love theatre and supporting local arts and will continue to go...