McCaw Hall — Attraction in Seattle

One of the finest opera venues I have experienced. Acoustics are first rate from the several seats I have tried (and I won't lie - the one time I got to sit in a box seat the acoustics were as good as the fabulous sight lines, wish I could afford those seats regularly). Seating is comfortable - after a couple decades of enduring torture at the SF Opera these are pure luxury, and the climate control is way better as well. Even bathroom capacity - unlike if SF where women have to get in line early to be able to be back in their seat at end of intermission! My only beef is they could have a little more in the way of snacks at the concession for the times when one can't manage dinner pre-opera.

But none of this matters if the opera itself is not good - and it is first rate! This is my first full season here and comparing it to SF (which is considered one of the best, it's where Pavarotti made his US debut for example) where I had season tickets for decades, I am very impressed - cast, chorus, sets, staging, lighting, orchestra, even the ushers. Tonight I heard a tenor whose power and finesse made me look forward to his return appearance, ditto for the soprano, and neither were big names which speaks volumes about SO's ability to spot and book talent.

Bottom line: After the first season, the money to renew for next season fairly leapt from my pocket. Also, as a donor I feel the organization has done far more to show appreciation than SF ever did. Give the Seattle Opera a try, you...

Venue is beautiful, large, acoustics were fantastic and the show was amazing! I saw Dreamcatcher (a KPOP group) there, and the concert hall was absolutely amazing. The box seats my partner and I had gave a fantastic view and were very comfortable. The reason this doesn't get five stars is that the merch setup and the entrance were a bit of a mess. They didn't setup the tables for screening people to enter until a half hour after doors were supposed to be open, there was a line all the way around the building. Then entrance to the building was slowed way down because they insist (after speaking with other folks who have been there for other shows this is a common occurrence there) on setting up the merch table directly inside the entrance, and they had nothing setup to control flow of people into venue and establish the line for the merch, creating an uncontrolled and slow entrance and a chaotic merch "line". I was lucky in that I was funneled directly into the merch line at the door, but if I had entered a little later or from a different entrance I would have been stuck in a line that was HUGE and slow moving, and 10 minutes before show was set to start lobby was still FILLED with people entering and getting merch, probably because of the late start on getting people in the door. This is still 4 stars though as the venue is gorgeous, the staff were all helpful, and the concert...

Showed up 20 minutes before the show started and immediately waited in a 30-minute line just to get inside, followed by another 15 minutes to get a drink. By the time we made it to our seats, the opener had already started. When we got there, people were sitting in our front row aisle seats. Annoying, but these things happen.

The real issue was the usher’s response. Instead of helping, we were told to let the seat squatters stay in our seats because the show had already started (again, it was the opener) and there was a “domino effect” with seating. After a bit of back-and-forth, the usher finally moved the squatters down two seats, but then the actual ticket holders for those seats arrived. Cue another disruptive shuffle during the show. The squatters were arguing about being moved. Idk, a bit crazy to expect people who pay top dollar for front row seats to expect worse seats so those who paid less can get them.

It was impossible to focus during the opener or get into the first 10 minutes of the comedy show with staff shuffling people around. Very bizarre to essentially be told we’d lost our seats due to poor line management by Allied and allowing seat squatters to...