Santander Performing Arts Center — Attraction in Reading

I only have one complaint; The security is very very lacking. If I was a performer, concerned about my safety, I would not perform here until it's addressed. I'm a retired police officer, and the best performance in the place was the "Security Theatre" (definition; When a place takes steps to make you FEEL secure, where in reality, theyve done absolutely nothing to actually make anyone safe).

Here's my complaint; If you're going to bother with metal detectors and bag checks... (Causing there to be a steady line that backs up out the doors) -then please actually DO adequate security checks.

You had to show your ticket, then empty your pockets, put down any bag(s) and walk through the metal detector - but lots of people were setting off the detectors and being waved through anyway.

I'm a retired police officer, and I've regularly carried my concealed weapon in my purse or on my body in the past. They did take my purse and put it on the table beside the metal detector while I went through- my purse is not huge, but it's certainly big enough to conceal a weapon. It has 3 zippered sections large enough- but the woman only half-unzipped the main section and she barely peaked into my bag before sliding it back to me.

We saw Eddie Izzard on tour on Feb 15 2018. I could have had an arsenal in there and they wouldn't have noticed. It bugs me that a place bothers to have security if they aren't going to make ANY attempt to actually BE safe. If you're going to have metal detectors and bag searches, how about you make sure that people ACTUALLY don't have weapons on them.

If it's that easy for an honest, good person to side step security and completely bypass a search... Imagine how easy it would be for a bad person. That's my only real complaint... It's supposed to be a theatre, not security theater.

As far as the theatre, parking and seating are concerned- everything was good; I'm disabled, and we were able to park in a habdicapped spot in a garage about two blocks away for around $10. I'm not sure if there's closer parking, but one could easily be dropped off at the theatres front doors and then a person could park and walk. It's in a safe area, well lit, surrounded by sidewalks. There is on-street parking all around. Restaurants in the area close early mid-week, so don't expect to find food AFTER the show. The only open bar in the area serving food (until 1 am per their website) stopped offering anything but burgers at 10 pm.

The theatre offered common small snacks like soft preztles and bags of popcorn but they did run out of popcorn before we could buy one, even though it was only a 3/4-filled audience - but that was a pretty minor issue.

Seating was comfortable for the few hour performance despite my being on the taller side... and the angles of the theatres floorplan makes it so all the seats have a pretty solid view, regardless of where your seats are. We were in the middle of tow 15, dead center, and the folks in the front didn't strain thier necks looking up and no one behind you had a problem seeing because the stadium-style leveling was done well. The entire place (lobby and theatre) were clean, (although my husband said the men's bathroom downstairs was awful- "worse than a subway bathroom" he said.)

They allow snacks inside and have drinks and alcohol available (we didn't purchase any food or drinks so I can't comment on the prices - my husband tried to get a 🍿 but it was too late). Signs say "No outside food or drink"-and perhaps they'd stop you from walking in with Starbucks in your hands, but I had a small bottle of soda in my purse & no one noticed or made me throw it away when we entered, so I'm sure you could get away with a small snack or drink in your pocket or purse if you wanted to...

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE! This is not a place for Ladies. You cannot take your reasonably sized RFID purse in with your needed items. In other words, you have to remove your ID from your wallet - and then when it gets lost - you are out of luck. You can't take your wallet in your purse - so you have to remove your credit cards from your wallet - or - better yet - just don't take a credit card - therefore you can't buy anything at all - NOTHING without a credit card. If you are a lady, by yourself - (no man to put items in a coat jacket or pocket) with a moderately sized purse, you can't take it in. They want you to have a thin clutch about the size of a large postcard (4.5 x 6.5). That won't hold a comb/brush, lipstick, powder; hand cleaner, glasses, wallet with cash, ID and credit cards, a pen, a cell phone, car keys and certain lady unmentionables. My purse is 9 x 10, provides RFID protection and holds those items nicely and is "too big" - so you have to decide... do you leave your car keys in the car, with the door unlocked so you can get in afterwards? Where do you put your items you need with you? Do you stuff your id and credit cards in your bra, reaching in when you need to get them out? Where do you put your lady unmentionables? How about hand sanitizer, or your glasses, comb, lipstick, cell phone, etc... those things don't fit in a bra. So in talking with the staff, they don't care.... practically said anyone who needs those things (just those basic things) doesn't need to attend any events there since they agreed those items won't all fit into that small of a clutch - and really - who wants everyone in the world to see your id, credit cards, lady unmentionables, etc that can be seen through a clear plastic bag which would have no RFID protection. So I can imagine the abundant opportunities for people to scan your credit cards remotely and by the time you leave the venue, they have charged thousands on your cards or emptied your bank account. You would not want to think the center is allowing scanning of RFID signals to rip off their patrons, would you? Soo, all that to say, find another venue where your artist will be and go there. You do not want to go here til they allow you to take your needed items with you in RFID protection purse that is an appropriate size to take just those basics I...

I went to Santander Performing Arts Center to see George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelics, the concert was fabulous definitely a 5-star concert!! I also paid to have a buffet pre-dinner before the show which turned into a plated meal due to not enough people purchased dinner. I was informed of this days before the show and was ok with it. Unfortunately, the plated meal was not that appealing, the food was cold, didn’t taste good to me and I couldn’t get past the appearance to eat the meal. The salad was good but I wasn’t sure how long it was on the table waiting for people to pick where they wanted to dine. The doors for dining opened at 4:30pm and we didn’t arrive until about 5:20pm. The peacan pie looked great and my husband said it was good. The cornbread was good!

We were supposed to have an alcoholic beverage with our meal but did not because we were given a ticket a piece to get the drinks from the long line in the lobby at their make shift bar so we got it before entering the concert. There we a lot of people who attended the concert and there was only 1 bartender to serve a couple hundred people so the drink line was extremely long. The bartender wasn’t friendly and it’s probably because there was not another bartender with her. There were snacks available for purchase but I’m sure they were expensive because I brought 1 normal size soft pretzel for $8.00 and later another glass of wine for $8.00.

I would definitely go back to this theater for a show but never for dinner. Parking was...