Lyceum Theatre

This theatre is a very charming play house with a nice intimate setting and a beautiful feeling of classic Broadway. Its location is nice because it’s a little disconnected from all of the Times Square madness and if you end up here the views are very good. This was my first time at this theatre for the play «A View From the Bridge» and I actually had the onstage seats that were specifically for this show and they were wonderful. I could tell that sitting in the orchestra and front mezzanine will give you a very good view, but I could also see that the balcony is very far away and high up and I haven’t heard great things about it. You will be in for a very nice experience if you come to this theatre!

I came to the Lyceum to see Arthur Miller’s «A View From the Bridge» a few days ago and while the play was phenomenal (seriously, try to see it before it ends this month!), the theater was just average. Perhaps this is a disconnect between my imagination and reality, but when I go to a Broadway play, I want it to be a grand experience. A fancy lobby, welcoming and helpful ushers, etc. The Lyceum fell flat for me on those points, which for almost $ 100 a ticket, was kind of a bummer.
I sat in the mezzanine and found the experience to be disappointing. For a 2 hour play with no intermission, you should be very prepared to be uncomfortable the entire time. I am barely 5’2″ and my knees were almost squished up against the seat in front of me. Since there is little to no space between rows, there is no place to really put your coat/​purse. Mine sat on my lap the entire evening since I think i missed the coat check on my way in. Again, not a deal breaker per se, but not the grand Broadway experience I conjured up in my head.
Views from the mezzanine are fine (see pic), but as others have mentioned, the sound doesn’t travel upward very well. Also, since the seats are quite small and close together, you will definitely hear every small noise around you, which will affect your enjoyment of the play depending on your ability to concentrate on just the actors.
Bottom line: Extraordinary performances, but be prepared for an uncomfortable seating experience.

Teatro pequeñito pero hermoso.
Asistí para ver Disgraced y estuve en la 2da fila así que la obra se vio maravillosa.
Su estilo barroco/​romántico nos anida para disfrutar sea cual sea el espectáculo, acompañándonos con una iluminación tenue pero perfecta para chequear nuestros programas sin quedarnos ciegos.
Techos altos, butacas cómodas, acústica ideal.

Beautiful old school theater with loads of carved wood. Seats are comfy and there is decent leg room. Some of the seats at row ends are a bit obstructed. Don’t think I’d want the balcony: very steep steps. Saw View From The Bridge; staging and acting were really good: production was spine chilling. Did have some trouble hearing and I’m not sure if that has to do with the theaters sound system or if it was just that one actress.

Here at first night of the play view from the bridge. Seats are on stage for 50.00 or you can save on balcony seats for 20.00. This is an older theater and as ticket agent at box office today me there are 79 steps to the balcony. No elevators here. Full view from balcony but pretty steep view down.

I have sat in all areas of this theatre but must say that the seat I had in the mezzanine for «The Visit» was my fav. Since it has an intimate feel, the Orch. seats here can deprive its participants of the glamour & size of the whole house & the richly detailed boxes & proscenium top. This is Broadways oldest continually operating theatre. Built in 1903 & the 1^st to be landmarked because of that. Make sure you check out the lower level paneled lounge w/​fireplace, the lobby murals, & the Shubert archives which operate out of the orig. owners (Frohman) apt. upstairs.

Beautiful motifs on the ceiling in this lovely old theater. But be prepared for cramped legroom in the orchestra. And even more cramped in the mezzanine!

Over a century old, the Lyceum has a rich history. It’s on the small side, like the Music Box (also old) and really beautiful in the theater proper. But the Music Box has a vast basement with ornate bathrooms, a grand piano and much space to purchase souvenirs. The Lyceum has next to no lobby and the bathroom situation is beyond bizarre.
The women’s room is downstairs but you don’t get to it from the lobby. The men’s room is easy to reach and to the left as you enter. You enter the women’s room from the aisle at the rear of the orchestra.
I am writing this review because I thought it might be nice for a woman to know where to pee – because you sure as hell can’t find anyone after the show who knows.
The bathroom has not been renovated at least since Jimmy Carter was in the White House. This is sorta charming. None of those air dryers or pressure assist toilets. But the stalls are rickety with just four or five stalls, it’s not as though a renovation would annihilate profits for a year.
The seats need to be updated too. They’re really uncomfortable and you feel a bit like you’re on the 6 train at rush hour. The American Airlines theater («Roundabout») is much more spacious and elegant.
In summer, the seats present an additional problem for women: they’re itchy on bare legs, so if you do wear a sundress make sure it’s long. At least you can stick your feet under the seat in front of you. I don’t know how anyone over ⁵⁄₈ could sit in the seat I did.
At ⁵⁄₈ barefoot and 6 feet in heels, I had to shift perpetually. Happily I have some dance training and think I was able to do so without disturbing the nice lady next to me. I would absolutely hate to be short but on airplanes and in cramped spaces, being a munchkin would be nice. She was comfy for the whole show.
So why 4 stars? It’s beautiful in a shabby chic sort of way, and any stage graced with Chita Rivera’s presence is fine by me. It’ on 45^th so close to the NQR stop at 49^th. Wear slacks if you can.
As for seating: the «rear» of the orchestra is much better than the Mezzanine. I looked. If you’re on one of the sites looking at a seating chart, try to get rear orchestra. In a theater of this size, even the last orchestra row is okay. I paid only 91 for N smack dab in the middle. You don’t want to be in the side, but the back of the orchestra is perfect.

Thank goodness I’m a LincTix member. This means that my seats at the Lyceum are normally at the AA/​A/​B rows in the orchestra. While these seats are sometimes so close to the stage that you can touch the actors (I was so close my feet could touch the stage).
It’s a gorgeous old school theatre — and if you can, get seats in the orchestra (or the first row of the mezzanine). The ushers are are super nice and the seats are quite comfortable for an older theatre. And every show I’ve seen here has been quite awesome (The Nance & Disgraced so far).
Fun fact: David Frohman’s apartment is atop the theatre, and it’s currently home to the Shubert Archive. So if you’re a serious theatre researcher working on a dissertation or something, then you can totally get admission to the apartment. (Now I just need to figure out a way to get up there…)

Don’t ever get balcony seats, not unless you are tiny, have 10 – 10 vision, have sonar hearing and good inner ear health! Yikes. Unfortunately the first scene in the first act of Disgraced was fraught with poor vocal projection and diction from one of the characters so it was hard getting an immediate grasp on the show– but they warmed up, my nausea in the nosebleed section calmed down and I had a great time at the theatre. Nothing like a good dramatic play and DISGRACED did not disappoint. I’m the end, neither did the theatre.
PS– BOND45 across the street was fantastic, pretty pricey but a great experience.

Honestly, I wanted to love this place. It’s small, super cute, and cozy. But, the staff just really has no idea what they are doing. The box office was a mess, the lines were crazy and they tried to manage them but random things like a trash barrel in the middle of the waiting area could easily be fixed. Once inside, we were in the first row and didn’t realize that it was right up against the stage so you couldn’t walk in front of it. The usher treated us like idiots for not knowing this, and was really rude when he asked us to go around to the other side of the row so people didn’t have to get up. They were also super aggressive about pictures, my friend took one just of the curtain before the show started and they screamed at her from across the theater. At the end, they were just as rude trying to get people to leave. I only paid 30 dollars for my tickets through linctix but if I had paid 130 like a lot of people, I would be really unhappy to be treated that way.
Overall, if the staff was better, this theater is great. The seats are comfortable, you have leg room and its really small. I might go back one more time just to see if I caught them on a bad day.

Went here to watch Disgraced! Super excited to see Josh Radnor. We stopped by a few hours earlier to pick up our tickets at will call. We weren’t sure if they were initially open, but they were. There was one older woman working the window behind the glass. It looked like she was counting something so she ignored us for the first few minutes. Then minutes later she says «I’ll be right with you…» Not the most polite, but I’ll live. Easy will call pick up, we bought tickets through Goldstar and it was a pretty good deal.
We were running late to the show since it was near Time Square and all. We were like a 5 minutes late. Luckily, the show hadn’t started or anything. The ushers were nice enough to seat us quickly. This theater is more narrow than a different place down the street I saw Kinky Boots at. I was looking down at the show, at a high angle. I mean I got what I paid for, no major complaints. From up there, initially i was worried I wasn’t able to hear the cast speak. They got a little louder about 10 minutes in. If you have tickets at the top! — there is a good amount of stairs to go up!

I have been to this theater several times in the past year — to see the Nance, The Realistic Joneses, and most recently to see Disgraced.
The theater is old world, and definitely full of charm. It is relatively small compared to some in the theater district. This means that there are fewer «bad» seats in the house. When I saw Disgraced, I was in the left orchestra in row G all the way at the wall. This ended up being a «bad» seat due to the fact that part of the stage was out of view the whole time. My only tip would be to sit minimally 2 seats in from the wall on either side to ensure a full stage view.
That said, the play, Disgraced, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner, was tremendous. At times the play was hard to watch due to its explosive nature, but it necessarily pushes boundaries that as a society we are constantly stretching. Well cast. A must see in my book.

Rude usher. Wouldn’t go to the theater again.
Everything was fine regarding the ticketing process and the show. We were sitting on the balcony level Tuesday, 11÷11÷14 and at the end of the show the usher announced that unless we had audio devices to return we should exit «this way.»
I couldn’t see which way he was pointing from my vantage point. I was the first one to the top of the stairs, so I asked him which way he had said to exit and he yelled at me, «That way! I just announced it!»
Obviously I had heard him, but couldn’t see him clearly or I wouldn’t have asked.
The theater was nowhere near full, so they are no overflowing with paying patrons. It is too bad that they go through so much trouble putting on a production to have the experience soured by the least-​skilled person involved in the entire process.

This theater impressed us with it’s lovely architecture and intimate seating. But this review is more about the current show playing at the Lyceum, then it is about the theater itself. We saw «the Realistic Joneses», and were thrilled to see the cast of Michael C. Hall, Toni Colette, Marissa Tomei, and Tracy Letts. There were many funny moments and we could see the facial expressions of the actors easily from our seats in the balcony. But the play itself seemed to be more a collection of one-​liners and funny little moments than any kind of cohesive story. If there was a story or a larger message to the play, we didn’t get it.
Overall, even with the exceptional cast, we can’t recommend this play to our friends.

The architecture itself is lovely, particularly the huge sculpture of Hera which crowns the proscenium.
That being said, after my first experience within this structure, I’d REALLY have to want to see a show housed here if I were unable to obtain tickets in the center section of seating, and preferably on the mezzanine level. The outer section of seating, at least in the balcony, is raked so severely that I had to lean into my friend in order to keep off of the stranger seated to my left.
Also, if you’re on the aisle seating near the front in the balcony, the guard rail is so high it blocks half the stage. And you already have to sit up very straight and tall to see the complete stage past the light rigging. And the theater is built so severely high that you’re literally looking at the top of the performers’ heads.
And, of course, it’s about a four story climb up to the balcony. We lapped other patrons who couldn’t climb that high as quickly. It’s kind of ridiculous… and I can’t imagine a speedy evacuation in the case of emergency.

I came to the Lyceum for the first time a couple of weeks ago to see The Realistic Joneses. I understand that the theater is small and the play was short (90 min., no intermission) but I was still bummed that they only had the cash only bar open for a short period before the show. I wasn’t able to get anything to drink because I didn’t have cash on me and there was no ATM for me to get to in time without missing the show.
The ushers that I encountered were friendly and I have no complaints about my seat. I was going solo and would’ve been between a bunch of strangers, but he let me sit by myself a few rows back since they were empty anyway.
In the middle of the show, I went to use the bathroom and the door between the theater and the bathroom area closed, LOCKING ME OUT of the theater! I literally had to walk 4 flights down the stairs, go outside and enter in through the front which was very inconvenient to say the least. Overall a small, no-​frills theater for smaller shows.

Really lovely theater and since it’s a smaller venue, it was quick to get in/​out of. Came here to see «The Realistic Joneses» and really enjoyed my seat.
There was actual knee room! My date also agreed there was more leg room than the average theater.
Also, since it’s not that big, I felt pretty close to the cast. Oh, and I also saw Ed Norton the night I was there. He was headed back stage after the show.
So for being a comfortable place to see a show, I give this place four stars.

One of the older theaters, beautiful architecture inside.
The Realistic Joneses: Tracey Letts, Toni Collete, Michael Hall & Maris Tomei. Came to see it a couple of weeks back soon after previews started. I have mixed feelings about the show. It was well acted, the expressions and dialog delivery was good & everyone played their characters well, but the story/​play didn’t flow as smoothly (I thought). It got really slow at some points, while had humor on other occasions.
But got autographs & pictures later and over all it was a good night.

I came here to see The Nance and really liked this venue. Three things to let you in on–
1– If you’re under 35, sign up for Linc tix. I got a $ 30 ticket to The Nance
2– If you’re seated in the first 3 rows, your neck will hurt. Period. And you can see the actors spitting when they talk. Bring a neck pillow and a splash guard.
3– If you come to watch The Nance, it’s great! But it’s only for a certain type of person. I heart Ru Paul’s Drag Queen Rave, I heart Bare The Musical, I heart The Birdcage. If you also say ‘I heart’ at least 2 of those, then go watch it.
4 stars and not 5 because my neck hurts. I can take a shower for the spitting part, that ain’t no thang.

REVIEW: The Nance
Whenever you get a chance to see Nathan Lane in a full-​fledged star turn on Broadway, you should take it and gladly as he is a singular talent. He has found an ideal character to play as Chauncey Miles, a headliner in the seedy world of 1930’s New York burlesque. His specialty is playing the «nance», a stereotypically effeminate man whose string of hilariously accidental double-​entendres are usually delivered by a straight comic. The irony is that Chauncey is gay and deeply secretive about his proclivities given that any outward display of homosexuality in the real world can get him arrested.
In fact, he is first seen cruising discreetly at a Greenwich Village automat as he pretends to read the newspaper. Most memorable to me for his clever stage adaptation of «Xanadu» a few years ago, playwright Douglas Carter Beane alternates the sad-​eyed drama of these scenes with outrageous burlesque sketches obviously to point out the stark contrast in Chauncey’s personal and professional selves. This dichotomy is at the heart of this drama only in its third night of previews when I saw it on March 23. Complicating his life is Ned, a young man running away from a loveless marriage in Buffalo and right into Chauncey’s world of flamboyant performers within the underbelly of showbiz.
The idea of an intimate monogamous relationship is so foreign to Chauncey that he struggles mightily with the unearthed feelings he develops for Ned. Meanwhile, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia is determined to clean up the city before the 1939 World’s Fair by enforcing a moral code on the theater community that endangers Chauncey’s livelihood. His colleagues are willing to either protest or compromise, but Chauncey steadfastly refuses to change his persona for the sake of professional survival. As an ardent Republican, he is in so much self-​denial that he is convinced that the mayor is just posturing before the elections and will do nothing.
Director Jack O’Brien dexterously picks up the flavor of the period without overdoing the camp factor, but the show’s pacing starts to drag (literally) in Act II when the inevitable appears stretched to showcase Lane in a series of predetermined bravura moments. The result feels too long by at least a half-​hour, but I understand that trimming has occurred since the performance I saw. There are good supporting turns from veterans Lewis J. Stadlen and Cady Huffman (reunited with Lane from «The Producers») as well as Jonny Orsini who manages to be affecting without being overly cloying as Ned. Make no mistake, however, that this is Lane’s show all the way, and by all means, go see it if you’re a fan.