 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In continental Europe, many concert halls are actually "multi-purpose", used for classical, pop, opera, ballet - of the many I've visited most have balconies. And yes, I prefer to sit there, for acoustic reasons. The sound tends to be more open than when you're sitting in the stalls.
|
|
|
|
|
|
We used to call it "the circle" in the UK, or "el gallinero" (the henhouse!) here in Spain. The front row was my favourite place. The screen was at about eye-level, so I didn't have to crane my neck up as I had to do in the front row of the stalls. Also, no people in front blocking the view with tall hair or large heads. I used to sometimes sit forward and lean on the rail with my arms. Good place also for the naughty kids to drop objects onto the punters below.
The last local cinema that had that set-up was demolished about 15 years ago.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Aug 28, 2013 - 10:43 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
CinemaScope
(Member)
|
We used to call it "the circle" in the UK, or "el gallinero" (the henhouse!) here in Spain. The front row was my favourite place. The screen was at about eye-level, so I didn't have to crane my neck up as I had to do in the front row of the stalls. Also, no people in front blocking the view with tall hair or large heads. I used to sometimes sit forward and lean on the rail with my arms. Good place also for the naughty kids to drop objects onto the punters below.
The last local cinema that had that set-up was demolished about 15 years ago.
Yup, the circle. When I was growing up in North London all cinemas had them, it used to cost a little bit more as I remenber. I was always in the stalls, but as I got older I started using the circle more. My favorite circle was in the Odeon Westbourne Grove (my favorite cinema), it was quite plush up there, with padded arm-rests, all in a rich red. Will anyone remember multi-plexs with the same nostalgia?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Years ago when you went to movies did you sit up in the balcony much?
When I was a kid the Balcony was verboten. It was for adults and smokers. Kids couldn't even sit in the center of the Orchestra- we had to sit off to the side. Of course we used to try and sneak around and sit crouched low in the seats so the ushers wouldn't see us, but they usually did, threatening us with reports to the Franciscan Brothers they somehow knew were our teachers at school.
So whenever I was taken to the movies, I always begged to sit up in the Balcony. I remember when my older brother took me to see Spartacus we sat in the very first row of the Balcony, known then as the Loge. And those were priced slightly higher than regular priced seats. Then again, my brothers smoked in those days.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Aug 28, 2013 - 1:39 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
dogplant
(Member)
|
Oh, yeah, front center circle if I got there first, or if I could afford assigned seating in the West End. It is astronomically expensive to sit in the balcony in the Odeon Leicester Square. They call it the Royal Circle, and these days one adult, peak period = £22.50 (€26/$35).
When I was growing up, my local fleapit used to have a circle but they ruined the experience in the mid 1970s when they turned downstairs into two smaller screens, retaining the balcony as their main theatre. This meant if you sat in the main theatre after the conversion, you were up in the circle looking down on the cavernous remains of the stalls. And to make matters worse, the backside of Screen Two, beneath you, jutted into view on the left. Acoustics were all shot, too, so it was a shame. In 1999 they closed it down and turned it into a nightclub where people get stabbed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Not really a balcony, but the upper level of the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood has a great sweet spot in the first row middle.
Elysium was a knockout there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
