Duke Energy Center for the Arts - Mahaffey Theater — Attraction in Saint Petersburg

I hate giving 1 star, but it is definitely needed to gain attention to a problem with their seating options. On February 2nd, I went to see RiverDance at this venue. The show is something that I have wanted to see for a very long time, and I was so excited. The seats we chose were in the 3rd tier balcony on the left hand side. When we got there, we were dissapointed to see that there were huge speakers blocking our view. We could see approximately 1/4 of the stage. When we inquired with the theatre, they said it was the Riverdance crew that had the speakers. I thought that was a plausible answer until I looked through every picture on their website. There were multiple pictures showing those speakers in multiple different shows, so that felt like a false claim. I just want to make people aware of this problem with their seating. Maybe you won't run into this problem, but if you do, I know how angry and disappointed you will be when you can only see a small portion of the stage. By the way, the right hand side would experience the same thing, so be aware. The Riverdance show, what I could see of it, was mesmerizing. Imagine how I would have felt if I could see the whole stage. Why on earth would the venue sell seats that could block the view...

When booking tickets online rest easy knowing there are no pillars or bad seats with any obstructions. Sat in top balcony to get cheaper ticket and was happy with it. Floor seats are very flat and have very long rows of chairs meaning you pay extra to let people past constantly. Side booths get you closer but you sit angled and with partial view of stage. All balcony seats are sloped so you can see over those in front. Not very wide seat but deep enough your knees don't touch seat in front. Helpful attendents.

Parked downtown near pier, ate and drank at a restaurant and walked 10-15 minutes to venue.

Arrive at door 30 minutes early to avoid the long queue at the main entrance where they scan your ticket and screen you through a metal detector.

7:30 Shen Yun show was okay, they push their religion. Music and dance starts to feel the same. Start 7:40, 15 minute intermission at 8:45 and end by 10pm. They watch carefully for people taking pictures.

Eat and drink before arriving; they only have bags of Lays chips, snickers, Twix, m&ms for $3, cocktails for $13, beer $8 and coffee.

Ladies restroom gets very long lines on each floor, there are some small handicap and family bathrooms...

Not a horrible experience yet not a great experience either. First off the security guards made us through our water bottles out on the way in. I understand that they sell water inside but these were brand new bottles of water. My bigger problem with this is they did not have a recycle bin and they only had a trash can. There were probably 30 to 40 full water bottles in the trash, no other trash. All of these bottles should have been recycled. The annoying security guy said to take it up with the city, not him... bad attitude! My second problem was the seats are extremely uncomfortable as they only sit perfectly upright with no lumbar support. This makes it extremely uncomfortable to sit through a long performance. My next issue was that the women's restroom only had 3 stalls, the line was probably 25 women and children deep. It took greater than need 15 minute break to wait in line in order to get a potty break. My last problem was that the Usher's were helping people find their seats with fairly bright flashlights. I've continued for the first 45 minutes of the two-hour show. I found this extremely distracting especially when the studio was quite dark...