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Comment by rob74 | Hacker News Reader

TIL that my mental picture of Lincoln's assassination had been wrong: I thought the presidential box was at the center of the theater, behind and above the seat rows, as it is in most theaters (having the best view of the stage), but it turns out that in Ford's Theatre it's at the side of the stage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford%27s_Theatre#/media/File:F.... Now the phrase "Front-row seats to President Lincoln's assassination" makes more sense (although it still sounds a bit distasteful)...

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You've made me quite curious now. I thought boxes at the side was the normal pattern. Boxes in the middle above the stalls is not a pattern I've seen. I wonder if it differs by country and age of the theatre.

Most of the theatres I've been to in my city (Montreal, Canada) have boxes on the side, e.g. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b5b4d25af2096...

After some googling, looks like the answer is: it depends :) E.g. in this article (https://showbusinessinsights.com/2014/06/24/the-most-stunnin...) 5 of 6 boxes are in the middle, the only one at the side being from a British theatre. So maybe this is more of a British tradition? I guess both have their advantages and disadvantages - at the back the occupants have more privacy and a better general view, at the side it's easier to build a separate entrance, and the box is closer to the stage.

I was also given to understand that while boxes give optional privacy, a big part of their function in older theatres was to be seen, rather than specifically to see the play. Presiding, if you will.

At least that's the oral tradition I've been given in the UK. Makes sense for the old aristocracy, the US may have wanted to make a deliberate break with the tradition?

> to make a deliberate break with the tradition

In the monarchical period of European theatre, it was well-understood that the centre was a _pit_ full of hard-scrabble riff-raff. Having a box apart from this was a sign of social class (i.e. _wealth_ and aristocratic connexions).

In either case the boxes are a level above the riff-raff. In one case they’re at the back (but still above) and in the other they’re nearer the front on the side.

Looking at the seating plan for the NY Metropolitan Opera I can see boxes marked on the first balcony above the floor seats (stalls) reaching all the way around. Photos don't seem to show them as actual boxes or rooms but the website talks about 'luxury box experience'. Just looks like seats with more space to me.

I'm pretty sure the royal box in British theatres is off to the side.

Muppets too!

Boxes at the back are a more modern invention and would only be found in very large theatres where there is a full "level" of boxes in a ring. The Royal Opera House in London springs to mind.

If you've ever been to a west-end show you'd be surprised how small the theatres are by modern standards.

There a box is at the side and has surprisingly bad view of the stage. It's to be seen by others. Which is why most west-end theatres don't sell seats in them - you'd not see much. There are exceptions of course.

TIL 22 war department clerks were killed in the theater in 1893:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congressional_Jo...

IIRC, Booth made his escape by jumping from the box down to the stage, avoiding the guards at the door.

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