I had seen the rows and rows of wooden chairs on the auction website. The seats and backs looked incredibly uncomfortable without cushioning, but the decorative ironwork that stretched from waist to floor on the sides was striking.
On first look, I wasn’t too sure where the chairs could’ve come from. So, when I arrived at the auction house, I tried to stay near the outside dock to hear the auctioneer announce them for sale.
What kind of chairs are they, I asked an auction-goer who sat soaking up the faint warmth of sunshine on this chilly day. Theater chairs, he said. And then I recognized what they were – seats removed from either a movie or performance theater. I was so used to sitting in fiber-filled chairs with nondescript arms that these didn’t register with me.
I watched as auction workers set up five rows of the chairs in front of buyers on the dock. They were being sold in threes, all joined at the sides. One buyer took all five rows for $160 per row. Another bought two rows for $130 each.
The auctioneer didn’t mention what theater had once owned the seats, but I figured that they now would look great integrated into a home décor. If you’re lucky enough to have your own home movie theater, a handful of the chairs would make a nice addition, or they could be used as hallway or corridor seating or as part of a living room setting.
The homeowner in this example attached them to a board and pushed them up to a table. In another, they offered a spot for watching movies at home, giving the owners a nice being-in-the-theater experience.
Theater owners apparently toss the seats when they update or renovate. Sometimes, they sell them off; other times they give them away.
Three years ago, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Pittsburgh replaced its lovely old seats and sold them to the public for $250 each. The seats were not hardwood but plywood stained to look like cherry.
In January, a theater in Portland, OR, sold off some plush red and blue-cushioned seats at prices starting at $20 each. Seats with decorative ironwork went for $100.
Last year, Oberlin College in Ohio gave away seats for free when it renovated its old theater.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2006 sold off seats for $250 each that it had removed from its hall three years before. The red and brown upholstered seats made of wood and cast iron were replicas of the originals made in 1919. The seats were removed, according to one site, to comply with fire codes.
Any renovations to theater houses must consider our changing body sizes and comfort levels. A 2010 study by Theater Projects Consultants of Connecticut noted that theater seat sizes had widened because we have gotten bigger (in height and girth), we want more personal space for comfort, and we want more leg room.
Over the last two decades, the width of seats has gained an inch – to 22 inches, according to the study. That’s a major jump considering that it had only increased two inches from 1900 to 1990.
While the change may have led to a much better experience, it has also meant a decrease in the number of cheap seats available, the study said. With fewer seats on the floor, theater operators have to make up the cost in higher-priced seats.
Broadway theater seats must be from an era when backsides were narrow and legs were short. My long legs are always flush against the back of the seat in front of me, and I have to stand to let people pass to get to their seats. I have a friend with bad knees who always requests the end-row seat.
Maybe buying your own is a good way to go. I sampled prices on Google and found the seats selling on eBay, where a lot of 63 sold for $1,000. An architectural antiques company was selling what it said were four attached seats from the 1800s for $650. If you get a good price on some seats in need of repair, there are plenty of companies that do that, too.
