It's the first section of the balcony.

The best view is from the dress circle but it has nothing to do with how you dress (I was going to say you have to dress for the dress circle, whereas it's clothing optional in the other sections...but not everyone gets my humor).

Seriously, I have found that very few people dress up for the theater anywhere whether it be the PNW, LA or NY. The last time I went to the Keller here in Portland, I wore a cashmere sweater, opera length pearls, leather blazer, a nice pair of pants and I felt dressed appropriately....and dressed up more than most.

I have season tix to PNB first row dress circle...they are terrific seats, you will love them.

LOL Marlene :) In Alaska people DO Dress for shows and things and while I made a tux joke, it's normal there to have to wear full legnth and tux for a show in certain areas of the theatre. I didn't want to show up in a pair of nice slacks and velvet blazer or something and be totally under dressed, nor did I want to put on something full legnth when handling a five year old heh heh

Oly....thank you so much for your experienced answer! So tell me honestly, will he be ok there or out of place? He's well behaved and will spend most of the show silent with his mouth open :) And I guess better yet...will he be able to see given he's a little guy? I believe the seats were Dress Circle in the 22 area, maybe a row or two back....I could check other seats if he is going to have a hard time seeing there (because I don't want him to stand or anything to block anyone's view).

Igloochic, go to the ballet theater�s website, and there is a seating chart that you can see to show you where you will be sitting. If you click on the area, it will show you the specific seat numbers.

If you haven�t, may I suggest that you get a recording of the music and start playing it? It is infinitely more fun for a child to attend these kinds of events if they are familiar with the music - it gives them an auditory connection.

Don�t be surprised if he loses interest at points - honestly, I love the theater, music, live performance. orchestra, all of it, but I found The Nutcracker boring at points and I saw it as a 30 something adult, and had sung all the music (and loved it) in high school. Maybe bring a small travel pillow so that he can lean against you if he needs to take a rest.

Hmmmmm....I'd go to this!!

I wouldn't mind wearing a Tux! My fave suit pattern though has always been a dark charcoal with the "chalky" stripes about 1" apart.

So..."dress circle" applies to the same area of every theatre?! I still don't get it!
Why is it named that??
What are "Opera-length" pearls? Are they lower?

Faron

They may have booster seats. We went to see Phantom at the Fox Theater in Atlanta and I was surprised to see stacks of little booster seats against the wall as you entered the theater. I have not seen that before or since, but I thought it was a good idea. You could always call and ask. Otherwise, you could fold up your coat and bag and let him sit on that.

Faron, opera length pearls are longer...and I have no idea why they're called opera length; however, I find that they really dress up anything (well, not a bikini at the Maui Four Seasons). Totally OT, Faron, but yesterday while walking out of Trader Joe's was a woman in her CL five or six inch heels. That poor girl could could barely make it to her car she was wobbling so. I thought of you (not because you wobble but because you're a CL fan!)

Igloo, the Nutcracker is perfect for your son and I think he will enjoy it. What he really would enjoy is seeing the Rockettes Christmas Show. It's going to be here in Portland so it's probably going to be in Seattle also. When I saw it in NYC, there were a ton of little ones. It's really a fun show. He's a very lucky little guy to be introduced to the arts at such a young age.

Yeah...I think gettin' the wee-ones out to "appropriate" theatre is very important! DW & I always took DD to all sorts of plays, musicals, etc.
DD is pretty shy though...couldn't talk her into signing-up for plays in GS/HS. I LOVED being in HS plays!!

OT again-
Marlene...WTH?!!? CL heels/spikes to a Trader-Joe's?!?!
What was she thinking - LOL!

I maybe babbled about this b4 at some point...
Walkng back to our room after dinner @ FS DUO restaurant, I noticed DW & DD were snickering, so I asked what was so funny! They pointed ahead to a younger couple walking. The young Woman (late 20's I'd guess...) didn't appear tipsy, but wasn't walking well AT ALL in her heels, which were lower than DW & DD's!
The hallways are a MILE long there, and we were behind them for a while...
(being a "dumb male", I just assumed this was a skill that 98% of Women had down-pat by HS!!)

Faron

Faron, he has a size four t tux with tails that you can borrow when you would like heh heh hes about a year away from that fitting

Marlene thanks again, I'll check the rockettes out....is clothing optional there as well?

Les I did see the seating chart but not information about dress codes. I'm used to there being one (somewhat spoken and unspoken) at the other theatre we attend in anchorage so I was trying to not look terribly stupid :).

Jak....I didn't even think about the booster seat idea. I'll call before I book for next week. (I was going to do it online). I don't want his first experience to be marred with an inability to see.

I know he won't get bored les, but the pillow idea isn't a bad one. I'm more worried about him getting upset. He empathizes with the characters ALOT which means that he bawled with worry for dorothy when she got separated from her family (thank you dh....yes he was too young for that lol). But I think the sheer wonder of the performance should help him not get too upset...I hope. This ballet ends well right? Lol. Ok just kidding.

I'm kind of excited about a special mom and son trip tradition. It looks like it will happen in time for dh to join us so daddy can take him to see the trains the next day at the center.

He'll be on five year old overload for a week after that :). Pray for me heh heh

Igloochic, there is no dress code; you'll see jeans and tuxes and everything in between. It is great if you want to dress to the nines because there are so few occasions and venues to do that in Seattle, it's kind of a polar fleece kind of town. But every performance there are people really dressed up and even more so for Nutcracker, but you would not feel out of place however you are dressed.

They have booster seats. Some people take too small children to see it. Kids aren't used to things without dialog, so the more you prepare him the better. And honestly the first scene goes, on and on and on without much action, but then it picks up. So if you can keep him interested by whispered prompts about what's going on, he'll be fine. And I just heard a story on NPR that most all of the young male dancers with PNB started dancing after becoming interested after seeing Nutcracker. So who knows what might happen!

I have a young friend, now 17, who went for the 1st time with me when he was about 5. As we were walking out he said, "I wish I had a tuxedo." So that was his gift the next xmas and every one after that until he was about 13. I went to Tux rental shops and bought used ones for him. He LOVED going to the ballet after that and we always went out to a fancy restaurant first so he could show off his tux.

Have a great time. It is a fabulous production.

You will have so much fun! The theater will be full of families with children of all ages, so he will be just fine.
The kids are usually dressed in their Christmas outfits and it is a festive occasion. I took my DS when he was 5 and DD was infant- and he loved it.
I took DD when she was 6- and it and the music was a big hit- she was a sugarplum fairy for a long time.
In November she called, asked me if I remember going with her, and then invited me to the Nutcracker- her treat! We are going this Sunday! and we are both excited about it!

Awww Sue, that is sweet of your daughter.

Here, the ballet is still a dressed up event, although you won't see tux or full length. Maybe if there is a special dinner and performance but general performances open to the public would not be formal.

The Rockettes do a show in Nashville and it is much more relaxed and dress is much more casual.

Have fun - all of you!

tina

My husband took our daughter annually to see Nutcracker for years. It was their special occasion treat each year. And the sight of my husband-who literally does not own a tie-dressed in a suit (and borrowed tie :) with his little girl in a beautiful frilly dress and patent leathers...it warms my heart to remember it.

Igloochic, thanks for triggering a warm and lovely memory during this hectic holiday season!

Ann

faron- here's a link that describes the various lengths of pearls.

In the grand opera houses of Europe the dress circle was reserved for patrons who were suitably attired in formal wear. It was a tradition dating to the 18th and 19th centuries.

Personally I find it rather sad that so few people 'dress up' these days. While I'm not prepared to don corset and frills I am rather tired of seeing jeans everywhere. I wear jeans daily but prefer to change up when going out.

Here is a link that might be useful: pearls

Igloochic, I was interested to hear how your Nutcracker experience was and what your son thought. Been watching for a report...

We took our kids to the Boston Ballet this year. They saw an amateur company last year and enjoyed it. So, I splurged (for us) on big $$ front row tickets. Apparently that has marked us as "high rollers". I've been fielding fundraising calls with a suggested committment level of $1200 so underprivileged kids can attend the ballet. Umm, that would be my kids..... (They never called in the past when DH and I would get cheap seats!)

I know, they do a lot of fundraising here, too. Seems impossible that the high price of tickets doesn't cover their costs, but i guess it doesn't. Glad you are exposing your children to the ballet; love to see children there. As I child I remember especially loving the live orchestra and being able to see them playing the music.

Ohhh sorry I missed this.

We had a fabulous and honestly magical time. He was at his cutest flaming red curly hair with his black tux (with tails) and he insisted on bringing puppy (a sad floppy animal that appears to have been run over by several cars in it's four year life span). He ran into his gorgeous girl friend, who is his age but towers over him. Adorable little thing from China with silky hair you just want to play with :). She just moved to Seattle so he's been missing her.

So ms tall, dark and gorgeous and mr short tiny and handsome went in hand in hand. They were mesmerized by the place. He kept saying it was magic :). He sat on the edge of his seat (great seats are always worthwhile!) and must have told me he loved it 40 times until he realized puppy was gone at which time he started sobbing! So during the cannon scene we were searching in the bathroom and restaurant...I was thinking of calling the hotel to see if they could run to ikea and get another one, drag that back to the hotel hanging on the bumper, in the rain, then throw it in a dryer and leave it in our room......but he asked to go back to the show.

At the end of the show we went to lost and found and there was a sweet little girl waiting to return it to the little red head. She had another puppy in her arms that apparently went every where with her and she insisted on waiting for us so the puppy could be returned to his rightful owner. :).

Moral of the stories....we will be taking him in a tux every year.....it was a joy to see this wonderful event through our sons eyes. And I picked up two extra puppies today at ikea which I will run over tomorrow while he is in school, then wash and set aside in case we ever have an emergency puppy need again! (and I got a noce new sewing room too lol) but that's another story!

Thanks to all for the advice and encouragement. We will be buying season tickets I think. It was so much fun!