Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall — Attraction in Sarasota

Me and my wife saw Les Mis. Fantastic show, the cast and crew did a fabulous job all around. However, the one star review is a result of a horrible audience and other strange things we noticed.

First, the ushers seemed very confused about seating. I heard from and saw multiple people before the show started going to different sections with the ushers, getting upset from a lack of communication of where to go. The ushers on one side of the building had apparently told guests to go to one place, only for those seats to be taken and another usher coming in and saying they needed to go back to that other side. This caused a lot of issues, but we will get to that in a second. The ushers were a bit older which is totally fine, but in this case they seemed to keep telling people incorrect information.

Second, the theater did not indicate when the show was going to start or when the intermission was finished. The start time was 7:30, and around 7:32 they did the whole “please silence your cell phone” thing, then IMMEDIATELY started the show. This was a problem because people were still coming in while the show was beginning. The first 10 minutes was people going in and out of our row because they couldn’t find their seats. All the lights were off, ushers were trying to get people seated, and at least with my row we couldn’t see the stage because people were in the way. I missed critical details of the plot because I couldn’t hear or see what was happening. Especially when there are multiple people coming near my seats asking us “what seat are you in.”

The exact same thing happened during the intermission, expect it was even WORSE. There was no indication of how long it was going to be or how much time was left, and it ended more abruptly then the opening. The doors were still open while the songs were playing for at least 15-20 minutes, people were talking like it was nothing and again, the ushers did not do anything to fix this. Which brings me to my final point.

This was the worst theater experience I’ve had with an audience. People were pulling out their phones to film/take photos, texting with their brightness all the way up, turning on their flashlights. Walking in and out of the auditorium what seemed like every 5 seconds. Talking as loud as they possibly could, dropping their snacks on the floor then laughing about it like it was nothing. One guy kept going back and forth but could tell he was pissing people off so he just sat on the steps to a row for the entirety of act 2. And the ushers did nothing. Now I don’t know if it’s simply because they didn’t see it happening, but I find that very hard to believe. At some point, an usher should have came to the rows and either taken these people out of the show, or given them a warning. I felt like I was in an audience of elementary schoolers.

Again, I want to reiterate that I understand that the majority of these issues are in relation to the audience. However I would argue that the theaters lack of respect, not only for the performers and crew but the audience as a whole, is the only real thing I can blame for this experience. I had to save up a lot of money to come see this and surprise my wife who LOVES Les Mis, and the moment we sit down everything starts falling apart. We still had a great time, but you could definitely tell the cast was getting distracted by everything. First and last time I’m watching a show here, I’d rather go out of state to a better place then have this...

I want to write this review about the facility itself. The quality of programming and the location of the venue is superb but the venue itself is one of the most poorly designed buildings in regard to "function" that I have ever been in.

In regards to aesthetics I believe the Van Wetzel is quite special. The view of the waterfront is amazing as is the windowed seating area inside behind the theater. But in regards to the Hall itself and the corridors and access to bathrooms this is one of the worst, most poorly designed buildings I have ever been in. There are only 2 access points to each row. The Van Wetzel has approximately 30 very long rows and if you are seated in the middle you have to enter from the left or right and walk across 25-30 people or so people to find your spot. The poor folks on the end have to constantly stand up to allow folks in and out. Its' terribly cramped and not particularly safe either. Upon exiting the main Left and Right sides you realize that the corridor has a funnel shape and in order to go to the restroom you literally have to squeeze along with hundreds of people through the funnel which is about 8 feet wide at it's most narrow portion. Unfortunately the main restrooms are located right in corridor's most narrow stretch of funnel so people waiting for the bathroom block cross traffic trying to move to the back of the theater.

The staff was kind and helpful and I enjoy the purple color palette which was very soothing and enjoyable. But if you see a sold out performance the Wezel Hall is quite impossible to navigate easily and...

Van Wezel: Where Buying Chips Gets You Treated Like a Security Threat

If you’re in the market for a live performance with a side of overzealous power-tripping staff, Van Wezel has you covered.

Our night started with what should have been a simple transaction—we bought a bag of chips at the concession stand. No big deal, right? Wrong. The usher who escorted us to our seats immediately told us we couldn’t eat them. Fine, we put them away without issue. But then, instead of just moving on, she suddenly started interrogating us about our tickets—as if we’d somehow sneaked into the premium orchestra section without paying. At that point, we half-expected her to demand we take off our shoes for a TSA-style security screening before she let us sit down.

After proving (again) that we were, in fact, legitimate ticket holders, we settled in amongst a sea of empty seats, assuming the nonsense was over. It wasn’t. A while later, a manager stormed over just to randomly scold us about the chips again—which were still sealed inside the bag. We hadn’t touched them, hadn’t tried to eat them, yet this person made a special trip just to harass us some more.

The entire experience was beyond ridiculous. If Van Wezel doesn’t want people to eat in the theater, maybe they shouldn’t sell snacks in the first place. Instead, they let their staff run around like they’re patrolling an airport security checkpoint, targeting paying customers for no reason. Between the bizarre accusations and the outright rude behavior, it was an absolute joke. Premium seats,...