Merriam Theater At the University of the Arts

Theatre is very comfortable. Seats more wider than Academy of Music. Performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is fantastic! Took mom for her birthday and she is very much enjoying herself as am i!

What I love about this theater is also what I hate about this theater. Love the art deco and the old time feel of entering the venue. Hate the art deco and the seats. Old outdated uncomfortable is the way I remember the place from my days at UArts. Nothing has changed. Still the same OLD theater it was way back in the 80’s. That said. The sound system was great. Staff fabulous. Bathrooms are a bit cramped.
One of the great things about the theater is, while the seats are not comfortable, there is not a bad seat in the house. It is an intimate space for seeing a show.
I would go here again though.

I recently visited the Merriam Theatre to see Stomp and had purchased tickets in the Family Circle section. When purchasing the tickets, nowhere did it state there would be an obstruction of view. The Stomp stage is a 2 level set and the few songs/​skits we wanted to see took place on the 2^nd level. Our seats were so high we didn’t see ANYTHING during them. My entire family and I were so angry! The tickets are not cheap and we’ve waiting years to see Stomp and we could not see the whole show. The box office needs to correctly advertise! Along with that, the heat had to be turned up as far as it can go, as we and everyone around us were practically melting.

My love of musicals has brought me to many shows at the Merriam Theater, which is, by far, my least favorite major venue in Philadelphia. Merriam gets 3 stars for largely great views no matter where you are and good sound even all the way at the top of the theater; however, it gets no stars for seats, accessibility, or refreshments.
For the first time this weekend, I sat in the Family Circle (for Stomp, which was awesome, funny, and had unexpected (by me anyway) audience participation and interaction). I was told the only way up to the Family Circle is the elevator (not true, there is a staircase from the lobby to the left). Then, once I got up there, I tried to buy a glass of wine to enjoy during the performance – no dice. While refreshments were sold on 3, there was no way to get there from family circle (4) other than the elevator. I took the elevator to three, couldn’t find the refreshment stand, so went all the way down to the lobby. About 15 minutes before showtime, I purchased the last water available (this seems like poor planning) and went back to the elevator to take me up to the 4^th floor. HOT TIP: Get your refreshments as soon as you arrive and before you go to your seat.
The seats at the Merriam are incredibly close together with no legroom. Even worse than an economy flight on spirit airlines. There was nowhere for my (or anyone else’s) knees to go, so everyone sits like they have a horse between their legs, making your experience that much less enjoyable. While the Merriam has great sound and viewing pluses, it really needs an updated seating situation, more realistic refreshment estimates, and additional accessibility to be upgraded star-​wise.

It’s a decent size theater, but I guessdue to the the fact that it was designed in the last century, very hard to see the stage if you are up top.
Was here for the Alton Brown special a few days ago and had seats at the very top of the family circle. Think right at the ceiling! There was no effort made to to help us find the seats, which were very tricky to find.
I couldn’t help but stare at the chandelier that had strings of crystals broken off the round base and just hanging there. It was actually quite distracting. Get it fixed Merriam theater!

america is too fat for the merriam theater.
this place might have allowed some level of comfort before the obesity epidemic, but humans these days are way too large for the seats, and chances are, your neighbor will spill over well into your personal space. at the very least, you’re gonna be rubbing legs.
and regardless of your BMI, if you’re taller than 5’7″, don’t bother coming here unless you’re 100% sure you have an aisle seat (or are a professional contortionist).

An old building that desperately needs a face-​lift. The acoustics and aesthetics are fine. It just needs some modern updates. The first on that list needs to be new chairs. Not only was I uncomfortably close to my strange neighbor, but my back was twitching for day or two after. It was painful!

We went to see Mike Barbiglia who was decently funny and put on a solid 90 min show… the seats are the smallest, must cramped that I’ve ever been jammed in to. It was painfully uncomfortable to sit through the entire show (I’m 6ft 200lbs… not a big guy, but quite average). Many of the other patrons around me were joking that the seats are meant for children. I would not go here again due to this fact alone.

My girlfriend and I got tickets to see the Pennsylvania ballet on a Friday evening for a short run of performances. Tickets were easy to pickup at the door, it was quick and easy to find our seats and the seats! The seats were incredible. We don’t have a whole lot of money but we were able to get seats where you could see everything and really get engrossed in the show.
The inside of the theater is beautiful. It looks like you’ve been transported back to an opera house-​esq theater in Europe.
A must-​go place in Philly!

Fiona Apple WOULD have been a great experience. We were directed to the wrong seats, for one thing. Bless his heart, the guy that directed us was a sweet guy. He actually directed us to the very seats and they were better than I thought they were, but I didn’t question it. I just sat down, happily, and got settled in. I am a huge fan and thoroughly enjoyed the show up until ¾ of the show had passed…
Then, a woman that worked there as an attendant on the other side of our aisle decided, DURING THE SHOW, to VERY RUDELY call us out in front of everyone around us to check our tickets. That started the rudeness. The next thing I know, we are being treated like criminals and liars. GET ourselves up and GET out of someone else’s seat. After all, they are HERE and they are waiting in some seats (just as close, mind you) to the left. The attendant was very loud and patronizing. We had, in her opinion, stolen their seats (that they were just dying to possess since they got there ¾ of the way through the show) and were common criminals and she wanted everyone in the near vicinity to hear it over the song. We were more than mildly embarrassed and she proceeded to lead us to our seats and make an example of us again. It tainted the rest of the show. We were led to those seats, nothing more. I have looked forward to seeing Fiona Apple in concert for 17 years and that woman had proceeded to humiliate me and my husband twice. I was absolutely disgusted that I had even paid money to be treated like that TWICE.
I contacted the establishment in hopes of sending the right person the message to let him or her know what had happened. I worked in retail for 5 years and I know complaints can be a pain, but I thought this was just a little ridiculous. I got an email back saying it would be sent to the right person, but I never got any response from anyone else. I am not a person that expects compensation, I would just like an acknowledgement. I even gave the name after I found it out. If it was enough to ruin a concert I have vied to see for 17 years, I think at least looking into it and responding after the fact would be ideal.
Edited at bottom! So that’s why I’m not happy. I hope to come back and change this rating but so far, I haven’t been impressed. I’m looking forward to better treatment.
SINCE then, the big man in charge was apologetic and worked to remedy the situation. Kudos!

Tango Fire was excellent!
The Merriam is in dire need of an upgrade. It’s everything the other reviewers noted, dirty and uncomfortable. There were two large badly patched holes in the balcony in front of me and the velvet padding covering the balcony edge was ripped to shreds — yuk, not a quality experience!

This was not an ecstatically pleasing venue but the sound was really good. I gave 2 stars because the ushers were seating throughout the whole show and people are not encouraged to wait until in between songs to leave or come back to a seat.
It was really distracting and put a damper on the continuity of the performance.
I would not revisit this venue.

Merriam Theatre is an old theatre on Broad Street that generally hosts some great shows. This weekend, on our theatre kick, the boo and I checked out FELA! We had some great seats for cheap — $ 25 for 2^nd row center balcony on the aisle. But it was definitely tight seating.
Fela itself was great, but as it went into the second act I started to get really uncomfortable in the theater. It was so humid in the balcony section — when it was 28 degrees outside. I was feeling dehydrated and numerous guests were fanning themselves with playbills. It made it hard to watch the rest of the show, and it was distracting… so I really had no idea what was going on when Fela’s mom died.
Speaking of distractions, the theater employees were showing guests to their seats 50 MINUTES into the first act. Shining flashlights, and causing commotions, they had guests standing so people could slide in and take their seats. First of all, who comes to a show that late? What’s the point? And second of all, isn’t there a cut off time for late guests?
Maybe they could kick on the air conditioner as the lights get hotter for those in the higher level seating… and maybe they could turn late patrons away when they show up later than 30 minutes.

Saw «FELA!» here last week. It is true, they let patrons in well after curtain time. My boyfriend and I were let in 20 minutes after it began. We arrived on time, but there was a mixup in the guest list that we should have been on. Even with our press contact present, we had trouble convincing the women running the press table that we were invited guests. Free extra tickets were being swapped and handed out rather willy-​nilly, as far as I could tell.
The «scenes» in this show were somewhat indiscernable, and to the ushers’ credit they did try to usher guests in when it appeared a scene or musical number had ended. The format of the play did not allow for discreet late admissions – and I would have happily waited longer if asked to do so, for the sake of those already seated.
Regardless, I can understand why anyone would be frustrated and annoyed, even angry when a show is repeatedly interrupted by the shadows of shuffling guests. Even as a delayed patron I was surprised by the amount of late seating.
Like others have said, the sound and lights were great. The building is not just old, it is historic. Architectural details on the ceiling and walls are helpful distractions from the archaic seating and carpeting. I slouched in my seat so the elderly ladies behind me could see better (row G orchestra, far right). The temperature grew to be uncomfortably warm and dry by act 2. Make sure you hydrate yourself before attending a show here if you don’t want to pay a premium for drinks in the lobby «bar.»
FELA! was a great show, btw. Strongly recommended.

I just watched FELA! at this theater, which was a great production. Of course, this review is about the theater and not the show. This was my first time at the Merriam Theater and hopefully, it will be my last. For one, it looks nice from the outside, but it is definitely old inside. Some may say, this gives the theater it’s charm. Well, I say it’s time to upgrade the place, at least a little.
The seats are extremely too tight and I’m a pretty slim guy. I felt bad for those patrons who were a little bit more on the heavier side. How can you be comfortable? Speaking of comfort, despite the fact that the seats are cushioned, I felt like I was sitting on a park bench halfway through the show. Either I need more junk in my trunk, or Merriam needs to add more cushion to their seats. I would like to believe its the latter.
Aside from the lack of comfort, they kept letting late-​comers in. Some of these people were strolling in 30 – 45 minutes after the show began. These same people had the nerve to have tickets for seats in the Orchestra section only a few rows from the stage. How can you live with yourself interrupting the performers like that? I know that has to be irritating for them because it was irritating for me. Here I am, enjoying the show when I’m forced to get up and let people in because they couldn’t make it to the theater on time. This is unacceptable. All theatres should force late-​comers to wait until the first intermission.
If it wasn’t for the lack of comfort and the inexcusable decision to allow people to walk in at all times throughout the show, I would have given this theater a three. At least the lighting and the sound was great.

As a preface, I will be reviewing the Merriam Theater itself, not the performance.
The Merriam is old. It looks old… it feels old. Paying homage to a particular period in time can be fun, and cool… Just looking dirty is not.
I would also like to see the person for whom the seats were built. I’m by no stretch of the imagination a giant man, but I could scarcely fit into my seat, and when I did, I wanted to get right back out of it… painful to be sure.
The dirtiness, and lack of concern for patron’s comfort made my ‘pet-​peeve radar’ go up. ‘What is this you speak of Urqhart??’ you say. I pose a question. If there is no concern for cleanliness or comfort, where is the attention being spent? Answer: on what’s going on on stage. After all, this is… The Theataaaaahhhhh (said with a big sweeping hand motion). Here is where my radar starts pinging. Let me be blunt; I cannot stand the theater’s (in general) opinion of themselves. It is, by and large, self-​important, self-​indulgant, sanctimonious, transparently fake, and outdated. IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU! The only reason I was there was for a night out with my Lady, which I could have done anywhere… nothing deeper.
The focus should be on making customers happy and comfortable, not on making them feel morally virtuous for supporting the theataaahhhh through their suffering.

I’ve been to a few theaters over the years, but this venue is average. It has a large capacity and nice architecture, but the seating is very uncomfortable. I shifted around several times to stop my ass from hurting from the folding chairs they threw in the orchestra section. Depending on the act, I’d stop by again, but not the best performance theater I’ve been to.

In early September, I purchased tickets to experience An Evening with Melody Gardot. Since it was my first time at Merriam, I called to see if the Balcony seats were worth the $ 47 and the long trip and a young lady in the box office was very helpful. She did warn me that the Balcony stairs were a bit steep and didn’t have a railing but, the seats I wanted had a direct view of the stage and Boy was she right!
We arrived at Merriam Theatre at 7:30 to pick up our tickets and I immediately headed towards the ladies room because I did not want to miss a minute of Melody Gardot. The lobby bathroom was located downstairs… and it was in desperate need of a makeover. Even the stairwells were worn down. This cant be safe.
We took the world’s smallest elevator to the 3^rd level to the balcony seats. Thank goodness I wasn’t claustrophobic because I would’ve lost my mind! We arrived on the 3^rd level and the ushers quickly led us to our seats. The seats were cushioned but tightttt! Thank goodness I’m small because even I thought the seats were too close together.
Finally, Melody Gardot embraced the stage and everything was right again in the world!

When comparing the Merriam against other similar venues, like the Walnut Theater and the Academy of Music, the Merriam is neither steeped with the history like the two, and not as beautiful as the Academy, but certainly more so than the Walnut. Like all old theaters, however, there is something both lovely and nostalgic about them, and I do yearn for the Golden Era of theater, when it was called the THEAT-​R-​E, and attending it was an event, people dressed up for it, people were prompt, respectful, and there were no cellphones… ah. Le Sigh…
But I digress. What the three theaters above do have in common though, as most older venues do, is the uncomfortable, narrow seating, restricted view and extremely dizzying balcony and upper balcony space. You take the good with the bad, and as a choice, I always make sure to purchase seats on the ground floor center. The theater itself is lovely and the interior décor and details are light, though in dire need of restoration. The stage is small, almost on par with the one at the Walnut, but the sound and acoustics is so much better than the Walnut.
I have mostly seen concerts in this venue and the sound has always been on point. Most recently, I saw «Traces» from Les 7 Doigts de La Main (for Fringe Fest) and this show included acrobatics, music and all sorts of special effects and I found the stage set-​up to be well equipped for a show with such complex elements. However, I’m not certain whether the stage could properly host a grand-​scale Broadway show.
Last little gripe are the ushers, who, are in desperate need of a training overhaul. Even upon entering the theater for ticket validation, the lines have no rhyme or reason to them, and there’s often congested traffic due to their lack of organization. Not to mention that the box office and will-​call area gets positively, crazy congested near showtime with people coming in and out of line and cutting in. Positively maddening.
Bottom line: stick to the first floor, center. Be on time. Turn off your cell phone, and don’t forget the opera gloves!

I’m puzzled by the ratings for this grand old theatre, which is the second oldest in Philadelphia. It’s not the most eloquent theatre I have been inside, but the acoustics are great, the staff is very friendly and accommodating and you can catch some great Broadway shows on tour.
We were just here to see Stomp and were very pleased with the theatre and the production. Maybe some folks just don’t have an appreciation for a fine old theatre they have kept alive.