Mitch Friedfeld wrote:

>In the Kennedy Center, they call these the Chorister seats.  I had
>a seat there the other night for Das Lied von der Erde and Britten's
>Sinfonia da Requiem (aside to Karl Miller in the Bernstein: Modern
>Masters thread: this is indeed a tremendous piece).  The KC's Chorister
>seats are very narrow as well, worse than tourist class in an airplane.

WDCH has bench seats for the chorus which are sold to audiences
when there is no chorus on the program.  There are also many,
many seats behind the orchestra which are not in that section.
http://wdch.laphil.com/tix/seating_chart.cfm I am in the Terrace section
just behind and a little higher than the green dot in the Orchestra View
diagram.

The seats I'm in are full-up seats, not benches.  The complaints about
narrow aisles and discomfort are coming from all sections with the
possible exception of Front Orchestra, closest to the stage.

>As for the cellphones, that's an atrocity.  Regarding those who left
>early, that's unfortunate but what can you do?  Look on the bright side:
>at least the early leavers got the traffic moving.

Social ostracism, pre-concert etiquette lessons, and immersion in boiling
oil have all been suggested.

>Speaking of which, here's a practical question that I don't think
>anyone's addressed yet: How's the parking, and how much did it cost?
>To park in the Kennedy Center garage now costs -- are you sitting down?
>-- $15.

The lot under the Hall costs $8, up from the $7 last year at The Music
Center.  There is a lot directly across from the hall and adjacent to
the Colburn School of Music that is $6.  Several local restaurants offer
valet parking in the $4-5 range with a complimentary shuttle bus to and
from WDCH.  I have not parked in the WDCH lot on a concert evening.  The
lot across the street never has very many cars in it.

Ravi Narasimhan
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