What’s with the Eccles Theater? Why is it larger than the largest theater on Broadway? The average Broadway theater seats 500. The Eccles seats 2,468. Circle in the Square in New York City seats 776 total around four sides.
Why would the Eccles think it could bring an intimate play to this theater and do it justice? It’s not even fit for a musical. I don’t know anyone who’s been to this theater who likes it.
People in Salt Lake City go there because it saves them a trip to New York City. The hallways are narrow, packed, and worrisome if a fire were ever to break out. The design is difficult for getting to bathrooms. Nothing in this theater is intimate or designed like any theater on Broadway made for plays or musicals. It seems to me that it was designed to pack in the biggest crowd possible in order to make the most money possible.
Almost every other theater in Salt Lake City has a better design. The “Mockingbird” really got killed in this theater last night: bad sound, couldn’t see or hear it, a waste of time.
If you want a Broadway experience, go to a theater made for it.
Bev Terry, Salt Lake City
