It had been a while since I had visited the Mesa Arts Center and since I live in North Scottsdale I don't venture down to Mesa that often. We had tickets to see Potted Potter at 7:30pm that evening. We arrived to a line of 5 cars waiting to enter the parking garage at 7:10pm. To my surprise they had run out of parking in the parking garage structure next to the arts center. The woman directiing traffic decided to park some cars along the driveway of the center. I was OK with this, but I was not OK paying $5 for not even parking in the parking garage. I find it very insulting for a venue to charge a parking fee when I have already purchased tickets to attend the event. I find it tacky and greedy. Anyhow I gave her the $5 and parked my truck along the curb while another 20 cars were also looking for parking I imagined they also were charged for parking along the street.
We entered the venue and it's a little on the small side. The incline between rows doesn't allow for much incline to view over the person in front of you. So you're having to view the show from between the shoulders of anyone sitting in front of you. Front row was probably be best, but I feel that it's too close to the stage and you'll probably have a strained neck after the show is over.