Distracting Sound Boards at The Sharon
 

I haven't been to The Sharon yet but look forward to the high caliber of entertainment this venue brings to The Villages. My sister has been to two productions there and she has told me of seat issues she encountered.

One production my sister attended, there was a brightly lit sound control board located behind the center orchestra seats, visible to those seated in the front mezzanine seats which is where she was sitting. Her seat was $100 and she was a very unhappy camper having to look at the distracting lights of the sound board. Sis also said there was a monitor next to the sound board that showed the keyboard player for the entire show. No one was sitting at the control board for the show.

The other production she attended had three brightly lit sound/control boards which are located at the rear of the left, center and right orchestra seats. These sound boards which do not have anything covering them to dim the lights, are very visible to those seated in the front mezzanine seats.


Has anyone been distracted by these sound/control boards?

Did she contact anyone in the Entertainment Department?

My wife and daughter went to a play there in September and sat in the mezzanine and they both liked the seats they had????????????????????????

OMG - have u ever been to Broadway in NYC?????

It's absurd that in this day and age that they would locate a soundboard in the audience. It is very easy to locate the board in the back of the venue where it poses no distraction.

Of course for optimum fidelity, the sound should be measured in the center of the theater about 3/5 of the way back from the speakers. But these days, a board can be placed anywhere an operated from an iPad from anywhere in the venue. There's no reason that the board can't be located out of sight controlled by sound man with an iPad sitting in the audience.

My sister sent an email to The Sharon which was on The Sharon website in the "Contact Us" section. Sis did get a reply and was told the sound board is located in a very common area for a theater.

I don't buy that answer at all. I have been to most theaters in NYC on Broadway and none of those theaters have sound boards with lights visible to any audience member.

Hubby and I are avid theater goers and love musical theater. We have also been to Radio City Music Hall in NYC, the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles and the Performing Arts Center in Ft. Lauderdale. The sound boards are not visible to the audience in those theaters. Even our local Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ has their sound board behind the last row of the orchestra and is not visible to anyone in the mezzanine or the balcony.

I have a mind to email The Sharon with a link to this thread and see what they have to say about their set up with the distracting sound boards.

It depends where in the mezzanine you are seated. If you are seated high enough, the sound board is not visible to the audience as it is hidden by people and the seats in the lower rows. Sit in the lower rows and you will see what my sister is talking about.

I've been going to Broadway theater since the early 70s. My very first Broadway show was "Cabaret" with the original Broadway cast with included Joel Grey and Bernadette Peters. Since then, I have collected Playbills for nearly one hundred shows, most of them musicals. Yes, I've been to many Broadway shows over the years I've resided in NY and NJ.

Oh...... I forgot to mention in a previous post, hubby and I also went to see "The Producers" with Nathan Lane in London on the west end. The sound board was not visible to any members of the theater going audience as it was tucked away in the back of the theater behind the last row of the orchestra.

You just made up my mind......I am going to email The Sharon with a link to this thread. Thanks Doc.

So far, I've had no response from a representative of The Sharon. I have a feeling, this thread has either not been read by anyone from The Sharon or the content of this thread has fallen on deaf ears.