I'm torn between 2 and 3 stars on this one. I'm rounding up from 2.5 for history's sake - much of Charlotte was built in the last 20 years, so this venue pre-dates that by a long shot.
It's old, so it's been renovated a few times. The seats have been replaced, and they almost have enough room between them for my 6'4" frame. The bad thing, however, is how close you are to the person or persons sitting next to you. If that's not someone you know, you may feel uncomfortable as you'll be running up on them.
The place is decent for a comedy show but not so great for some of the Broadway tours I've seen. The acoustics aren't very good and the close proximity of the seats may make it difficult for you to see over someone like me. The lobby is small with one big bar and a small one taking up almost half of it. Another negative is the parking. I really don't like places where you have no option but to pay them to park (I never pay to park uptown). Also, trying to get a thousand cars out of a parking lot onto Eastway is dangerous - even with cops directing traffic. The lack of light rail access to here is an inconvenience.
Shows are usually booked here due to price, availability of other theatres, or if the show may draw more people than what the Belk Theatre holds since Ovens holds about 400 more people. For that reason I've seen Wicked, Spamalot, and Rent here, but would have enjoyed all more at Belk as it's just a much more comfortable environment. I've also seen Robin Williams here, and he was absolutely hilarious, so Ovens sufficed for that performance. The bottom line is that I'll go to Ovens if I have to, but I'd rather she shows at other places.