I stopped by here a couple of Saturday evenings ago with my wife. We had purchased tickets online for Paula Poundstone and her stand up comedy and this happened to be the venue where she was performing. Whenever we first arrived I found the oldness of the building to somewhat charming and comforting. I thought that the actual music hall was pretty cool too as it's unlike anywhere else I have been in Pittsburgh. Then I had to go to the bathroom which is where the troubles started for me. We were in the balcony and the bathrooms were in the basement. A few flights of stairs aren't a problem for someone fit like me. However fighting through the narrowness of the stairs and hallways to get there was quite the pain. Then whenever I got back to my seat other people had filled in the seats and I realized that I was going to have a tough time seeing Paula on the stage. At 6'3 this shouldn't ever really be a problem but here it was and throughout the whole show I was only really able to see Paula's head if I was sitting up really tall. Speaking of that, these seats are old and not meant for someone as tall as me. That meant an uncomfortable night with lots of switching positions. Last but certainly not least the music hall was hot! It was cold outside and I had taken my jacket off but by the end of the show I was sweating. This wasn't just a regular sweat either as it was pouring out and I was dabbing the sweat off of my forehead every minute or two. I can't say that I have ever had that happen before in a performing arts venue.
The bottom line for me is that I probably will avoid coming back to see any shows here. While I did enjoy Paula Poundstone's comedy, the overly cramped seats combined with the heat and not easily being able to see the stage made for a very long night for me.