Benedum Center for the Performing Arts — Attraction in Pittsburgh

4🌟 as a venue for performances, BUT it needs serious modernization. 2🌟 for Pittsburgh Opera’s overall very poor production of the Flying Dutchman (better heard than watched).

THE THEATRE: It’s an old movie house that has been transformed, over many years, into a theatre for the performing arts: both classical and contemporary. The interior design is a throwback to the 1920´s, a remarkable feat of preservation.

The acoustics is very good, hence a great venue for live performances.

BUT it needs serious modernization. THE SEATS ARE THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE FOR AN ARTISTIC THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE of any kind.

It has very very narrow legroom, even for the slim/average height/weight 21st century American adult. It’s not suitable for productions longer than hour.

If every other row is removed, or adjusted 1-1.5 feet, it would be a more relaxing venue.

The washrooms, especially in balconies, need expanding. More toilets, urinals, and wash sinks are needed. They are also tight for wheelchair!

THE OPERA PRODUCTION of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman👎👎👎 It’s better heard than watched, largely because the set design is so very pedestrian and unimaginative.

With some rough patches, especially in Act I, the singing is quite good overall. The chorus in Acts 2 and 3 did well.

Too many clapping between sections detracts from the operatic drama. … Inasmuch as a projected subtitling is flashed on stage, a simple “hold applause for the end of Act” would have been instructive to the audience l.

AND whist it’s a Wagner Opera, the orchestra is too loud, swallowing the principals and the chorus in Act I. The Eric singer in Act II is rather weak.

Opera requires not only singing but acting. This production is devoid of acting🫤🫤🫤.

The production set/design is very unimaginative uncreative😡😡😡. It depended on cheap projection of mostly static images.

The opera is a Wagnerian romantic drama, but the stage production looks very amateurish, like a school operetta 👎👎👎.

The biggest FAUX PAS AND most laughable, are the 4 paper coffee cups and serving tray in Act II. This not Starbucks… As if that’s not enough an absurd idea, there are the plastic ice buckets in Act III 😡😡😡👎👎👎.

The high cost of tickets is NOT worth this...

Always a great experience at this beautiful, historic theater that I’ve loved since childhood more than half a century ago. I doubt there’s a bad seat in the house. I was in almost the last row of the orchestra at the far right this time, and would have still had a perfect view of the stage except for the tall man in front of vertically-challenged me.

I went there recently for a concert and the staff kindly helped me find a good spot in the lobby to leave my wheelchair and watched over it. I can walk, thankfully, just not distances, and I didn’t have an accessible seat, and I took the bus.

Then they were super helpful in helping me find a glove that had gone astray after the concert was over that had thankfully been turned in somewhere.

They do have space for wheelchairs in the theater itself, in the orchestra, but it’s very limited, and tight, so grab your seat early if there’s an event you want to go to and you need a wheelchair-accessible seat.

I had never known before that they have an elevator, but they do, so the big, elegant bathrooms downstairs are fully accessible. They are very spacious (at least the ladies’ room), so navigating it in a wheelchair or with a walker would be very easy.

There’s a fair amount of parking nearby, and a bus stop right across the street, so access is always easy. Get there early for parking, though, and just be prepared for a long wait to get out of any of the garages. I felt very safe waiting for the bus home with the bustle of the theater district going on around me. I live right across from the bus stop at home, too, so it was easier to just take it than to drive.

And of course there are lots of great restaurants nearby for your pre or...

Came to town as the Audio Engineer for Sesame Street Live " Let's Dance The building was beautiful. Has the old school theatre vibe with intricate designs throughout. The backstage was secure with credentials checked. All the amenities you want from laundry to showers etc. Great front of house position with easy access to tie in my touring audio console into there awesome line-array system with full coverage. Great local guys who make standing around making a bunch of money look like it requires a master's degree. Seriously tho they were always close by to lend a hand or a brain when needed and took pride in there venue. Always a nice walk from the beautiful Hotel Omni William Penn where you are glad the tour is paying the $3 to $400 a night room rate. We came during Christmas Season so the hotel theatre and surrounding area was decorated to impress any visitors and make it feel festive when you pass the homeless bedding down in the store front archways as they close. And there may be a descent multi story late night dance hall that has a no clothing policy for the performers on stage. Or maybe it doesn't. Let's be real what major city could I be describing. Maybe every one of them. Just enter a city name above this description and it will be 98%...