What is Mezzanine seating?

Mezzanine seating is a term commonly used in the world of theatre houses. When purchasing tickets to watch a popular stage play or musical opera for example, people will be reserved and/or designated seats depending on the ticket price. When speaking about theatre seating, there are two or three main types of seats with mezzanine seating one of them.

The area on the ground floor and closest to the stage is for orchestra seating while the area on the upper floors may be divided into mezzanine seating and balcony seating. But in some theatres, mezzanine seating is just the same as balcony seating. Of course, this depends on how big the theatre is and how the seats are arranged and configured on the different floors. In typical theatre setups, mezzanine seats are arranged on floors or balcony-like overhangs on about 12 rows of the orchestra level. When there are no more balconies above, the seats that overhang on the orchestra floor are called the main balcony seats. But when there is a third level to the theatre building then the middle floor is dedicated for mezzanine seating with the upper floor labelled as the balcony.

In most theatre houses, mezzanine and/or balcony seats are sold at lower prices when compared to orchestra seats especially if they are located farther from the stage. But despite the distance from the stage, some theatre-goers still prefer mezzanine seating because of better and unobstructed view. But there are also theatres that are designed with mezzanine seats closer to the stage. In this case, these seats may command a higher ticket price than that of orchestra seating. But whatever the price and the theatre seating layout, if one desires to have a clear and an unobstructed view of the stage, then mezzanine seating is generally the best choice.