# Obese Woman Ruins Theatre **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 13, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obese-woman-ruins-theatre/339873 "2006-01-13T20:28:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obese-woman-ruins-theatre/339873/201 "2006-01-20T04:56:34Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > Oh please. I will grant you I’m not going on data here - I’m going by grandma’s reports from the old days. And personal experience - forget waistlines - I’m 5’4 and my knees never used to butt up against the seats in front of me and now they do nearly half the time in theaters - now there is no way this could have been my height growing. Well, here’s an article ([We’re getting bigger, but theater seats aren’t keeping up](http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031782178978)) about historic theatres in Richmond getting complaints because their seats are too cramped. > [@](#): > > Seats in the historic movie palace in Carytown are 18 inches wide, the same as an economy-class seat in the Boeing MD-80 flown by American Airlines. And there’s less legroom: 27½ inches from the back of a seat to the back of the seat in front of it at the theater, compared with 31 to 32 inches on the plane. > > Todd Schall-Vess, the Byrd’s general manager, hears plenty from patrons about uncomfortably tight seating. So do the people who operate and book shows in Richmond’s other older theaters. > [@](#): > > “Builders of new theaters are quite aware that people have grown,” said Jules Lauve of TheatreProjects, a design consultant for the foundation. Roomier seating “is a consideration in any new construction and any renovation in which new seating is part of the plan,” he said. And this [article](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/06/29/DD60527.DTL) about a new movie theater boasts about its expanded spacing. > [@](#): > > `Size does count,'' Walsh said. `We have an 18-inch rise in each row, biggest in the industry, and 46- inch row spacing that’s two inches more than the industry standard. People don’t have to trip over each other. There have been a standard seat sizes and spacing (mostly determined by fire codes) in place for years that haven’t been shinking; the trend seems going in the other direction to accomodate the larger bodies of today’s patrons. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obese-woman-ruins-theatre/339873/202 "2006-01-20T18:10:13Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > To an extent you’re right but theater seating, like airplane seating has shrunk in size over the past decades in order to fit more seats in. I have never encountered a movie seat that would not accomodate me. I am 6’3" tall and weigh 250 lbs. One of the reasons I do not fly is that coach seats are uncomfortable to the point of torture, and I cannot afford first class. If I took a seat in a movie theater that was too small, causing me to spill over into the adjoining seat, I would leave, ask for my money back, and not return. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obese-woman-ruins-theatre/339873/203 "2006-01-20T19:06:50Z")
Adding that newer theatres on Broadway actually have MORE room, at least in my experience. I find that the Marquis theatre (in the Marriott Marquis) is MUCH more comfortable than the Gershwin, where I find myself squeezed in. (And they have one bathroom for most of the balcony, which is PAINFUL when you really have to go.) I can’t remember which theatre “The Wild Party” was in, but I was thrilled with all of the room in that one (not to mention the tons of bathrooms). If the trend follows, they are making theatre seats much larger and more comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obese-woman-ruins-theatre/339873/204 "2006-01-21T15:14:28Z")
> [@Elza B](#): > > Adding that newer theatres on Broadway actually have MORE room, at least in my experience. I find that the Marquis theatre (in the Marriott Marquis) is MUCH more comfortable than the Gershwin, where I find myself squeezed in. (And they have one bathroom for most of the balcony, which is PAINFUL when you really have to go.) > > I can’t remember which theatre “The Wild Party” was in, but I was thrilled with all of the room in that one (not to mention the tons of bathrooms). If the trend follows, they are making theatre seats much larger and more comfortable. I’ll ditto this. We saw “Annie Get Your Gun” at the Marquis and at my pre-op weight it was snug, but comfortable. On the other hand, at “Nine”, I was in agony through the entire performance. Only Antonio Banderas’s presence made me suffer through 😃 VCNJ~ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obese-woman-ruins-theatre/339873.md?page=10)