Saenger Theatre Pensacola — Attraction in Pensacola

Tonight was the first time I EVER entered the Saenger Theatre. I was attending the August 2nd, 2025 screening of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" with William Shatner on stage. The theatre building itself is beautiful, the staff mostly very professional and right on top of helping guests, and the audio visual equipment STINKS like a long-passed armadillo lying for ten days in the sun on a Texas highway. How do you DESTROY an evening? Have your audio cut out MULTIPLE TIMES during the movie. Then have your VIDEO cut out multiple times during the movie. Kirk and company are about to launch the Enterprise from space dock, and--! Ooops! No sound! Kirk and company are trapped in the belly of the moon, apparently buried alive. They're talking deeply, facing the tragedies and pain they've suffered--! Ooopsie! No Sound! Khan is chasing the Enterprise, ready to attack. Phasers are being locked again, shields going up again, and---! Ooopsie! No sound! The Enterprise is entering the Mutara Nebula, Khan is still giving chase and--! Whoopsie! No picture! The Enterprise is coming up behind Khan's ship, Chekhov is about to announce the torpedoes are ready, and--! Whoopsie! No picture! Finally, the best, the most heart-wrenching moment in all of Star Trek history is upon us. Spock is dying, horribly burned by radiation while repairing the Enterprise's decimated engines. Kirk is approaching his dying friend and--! Whoopsie-Doopsie! No sound AND no picture! The crew are at attention for Spock's funeral. Kirk is giving his final testament: "Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human--!" Oopsie-Whoopsie-Doopsie! No sound AND no picture! Fortunately, Mr. Shatner is a consummate professional. He turned the Saenger's egregious failures into laughter for us--and, unlike the THEATRE's manager, Mr. Shatner apologized. You heard that right. The THEATRE's equipment did more damage to the Enterprise than Khan did, but NO ONE from theatre management addressed the audience That was left to the evening's STAR. Saenger Theatre, your structure is historic and beautiful. Your general staff is amazing. But, if this is the kind of venue your managers maintain--right to leaving it for the STAR of the show to apologize for YOUR crap-duster lousy equipment, I will be RUSHING OUT to NEVER waste money on your theatre again. I pay good money for a show. I expect the venue to having WORKING EQUIPMENT! And I expect the venue's management to apologize for THEIR crap-duster, shoddy equipment screwing things up instead of hiding behind the star...

The staff at Saenger is AMAZING. I had purchased my tickets through a third party not knowing that if there was an issue it would be almost impossible to get it resolved through them. Side note: Vivid Seats has terrible customer service.

Anyway, long story short, I have no clue what happened to my tickets so I was going in with the mindset that this situation was my fault and I just needed information on what to do after running into a wall with Vivid Seats. When I called a month out to explain the situation with the lost tickets, Kristen was super helpful and informative. She gave some options for dealing with Vivid Seats and then gave me some information on what to do when I got to the show. I called back the day before and spoke with Helen, who was also helpful and reiterated the instructions on what to do when I got to the box office. They were very nice, but also honest about potential issues I might run into on the night of the event and gently but firmly suggested that I always go through the theater to buy tickets. (If there's an issue, the theater can resolve it, cheaper tickets, etc.)

When we got to the show, I was able to go up to the box office and explain the situation. Luckily I had a picture of the original tickets. They called Helen and were able to get confirmation that I had already spoken to them about my tickets. They gave us a voucher and we found our seats. Again, they were also very clear on what would happen if someone else showed up with the same tickets (we would have to move to the other seats I had purchased - but they weren't as good). They made a really frustrating and somewhat stressful situation relatively easy. I honestly can't say enough about their customer service. It...

This place could make a few changes and go from one star to five, but they don’t. They have phenomenal entertainers coming here whether comedy, traveling Broadway, plays, magic and other things. The issue with this place is everything is late and they let everyone just walk in and interrupt patrons. I’ve never seen a place allow people to enter late and then they seat them in the middle of a performance and you have to either move to let someone through or people are blocking you when they stand up. The concessions run the whole show, so people are constantly up and down for snacks and drinks which impacts my ability to enjoy the show when I gotta move or they’re blocking my view. They open the main doors one hour early and then everyone has to cram on top of one another because the seating area opens 30 minutes before the show. The show never starts on time and the 15 minute intermissions are 20-25 minutes, maybe open the seating area 40 minutes before to hopefully start on time. Why not make a simple announcement politely telling people to shut their mouths during the show and to sit their butts down until an intermission or at least the end of a scene. No photography is allowed but people record and take pictures the whole show. Run your theatre better you have great performers now let the folks enjoy the show without distractions. You’d never get by with this kind of relaxed rules elsewhere. I debate every show if I will attend again but the...