Symphony Space

What a great performance space! Staff are also very helpful.

This is a nice and conveniently located theater, but consistently too loud.

beautiful, simple space, diverse events and great sound. the staff were helpful, the events are affordable, and the space is easily accessible. there’s really not much more to ask for in a venue.

Getting the «what’s a black girl like you doing in our upper west side space» looks –ugh. No reflection in the staff just the other opera enthusiasts here to watch the Royal Opera Performance. Beautiful space! Comfy seats. Excellent acoustics.

Great space and easy access via public transportation

I came for a Venezuelan event, I loved this venue is spacious and it seem like every seat is a good seat, easy access by subway

Very nice venue to see an event. Seats are little tight, but otherwise fun destination.

This was my second time here, and I liked it here the first time.
But this time I realized that their something really special about Symphony Space.
Can’t wait to come here again.

This is a nice space, but in my one visit they had a lot of technical issues.
I recently went to a talk with some authors promoting their new book. Right away they had problems. The mic was not on and/​or was having issues with reception. And in the middle of the talk one of the mics dropped out and no one on staff could make a change on the fly. What kind of theater space does not immediately correct this? The staff never came out to get another working mic out or to try to fix the problem. They just left the presenters out there to deal with it.
The space otherwise is nice. It’s not huge and has some balcony seating. But otherwise it’s a cozy theater. The rake of the seating should have been made a little steeper because you have to look around people quite a bit.
Ticketing was easy and they have an ‘under 30′ program for cheaper tickets to the young folk. Will call was easy and the ushers were nice.
I would come back for another event.

bought tickets under impression it was live. live it was not. that could be blamed on goldstar but the ticket agent at symphony space was quite eager to note that the ticket clearly stated that it was not live (nowhere was this noted at all.)
that said, the recorded performance was enjoyable. people right behind us chomped on popcorn like it was oxygen. would be nice if they would turn the volume up so the chomping wasn’t such a distraction. 95 percent jews, 5 percent asians.

If you had dyed-​in-​the-​wool liberal parents growing up, there’s no doubt you spent a considerable amount of time listening to NPR/​PRI like me. If you grew up to embrace Public Broadcasting, you must be a fan of «Selected Shorts» and the familiar voice who emceed the show: Isaiah Sheffer. Symphony Space is the theater and performing arts organization Mr. Sheffer directed and made famous with the weekly short story readings by big-​named NY celebrities.
I grew up coming to this theater for Selected Shorts readings, concerts, black and white movies and various other performances. The theater was renovated in the late 90s and no longer has the original Art Deco interior, but it maintains its devotion to top-​notch performances and cultural arts projects.

The school I work at held their winter concert here tonight. The seating is comfortable and abundant and I thought the acoustics great. It was my first visit and I enjoyed both playing in and watching the show! Backstage you can see the place is old and will soon need refurbishing.

There’s something special about Symphony Space. So special, that I even cross the park from the UES to get there by subway and bus.
My first experience here was Dar Williams and I had a third row seat. What I really love about this venue is the readily available single seats for a solo audience such as myself.
Since then, I’ve become turned on to the Selected Shorts series. An opportunity to hear literary readings performed by actors is delightful and outside of the norm of the typical interview style event that I catch at different venues throughout NYC.
The crowd is a bit stuffy, but the entertainment is top notch.

Superb National Theatre Live films of London plays: just saw OTHELLO! YES!

My first time at Symphony Space was Wed 2÷20÷13 for the Selected Shorts Series and I thought the reading event was well worth the price ($ 28 ticket plus fees, total $ 32 per ticket).
I went because I saw Sherman Alexie (who I saw read a few years ago) and Lorrie Moore (one of my favorite writers) were on the list. I thought they would be reading, but the actual event was more interesting.
BD Wong hosted; he kept the event flowing with humor and wit.
Each of the three short stories were introduced by its author and then read by an actress. All of the actresses, Jill Eikenberry, Cynthia Nixon, and Amber Tamblyn were fantastic readers.
Fiction readings can be boring at times, but this event was so well organized that the chosen stories were perfect for the oral format. The actresses read the stories with appropriate nuance and passion, without over performing.
The final portion was an unrehearsed conversation between Mr. Alexie and Ms. Moore, which had the potential to become awkward but they managed to make it interesting.
I would definitely go to another Selected Shorts event if I see an author I’m interested in. The format seems ideal for short fiction enthusiasts who would like to go to a well-​organized reading. It also fulfilled its purpose in making me more interested in the careers of the professionals listed above.

Nice venue to see a show. We went to one earlier in the week & they had air conditioning in the theater along with helpful staff. Plus, it’s clean inside despite people bringing drinks in from the bar. Didn’t really go into the bar but it also looked nice. The ladies bathrooms were also spacious & had more functioning toilets than some places I’ve been to.

Getting to Symphony Space from NJ is a hike, but I’ve been here about a dozen times! Why? Because their Selected Shorts series is one of the most unique live events I’ve ever attended. It’s a real treat for someone who’s an aspiring writer like me.
Through the Selected Shorts series, I have discovered many new writers, and I love the fact that guests can buy the writers’ books. You can even have them signed by the writer if he/​she is present!
I really enjoy the fact that you can buy a beer or a glass of wine at the bar and then bring the drink to your seat to enjoy throughout the performance. Also, I once attended a reading discussion group in a smaller theater room at Symphony Space and loved the intimate feel of it.
The best part about Symphony Space is that it’s in a great neighborhood! It’s close to trains and some great restaurants/​bars so that you can enjoy a drink or a meal after the show!

Why is that when people review a music venue or museum on here, they feel it necessary to name drop the band they saw, to note their vast knowledge base on the history of said venue or museum, to ramble endlessly about their view of the implications of an acoustic atmosphere on music … blah, blah, blah ??? If you like pretentious reviews, mine isn’t one of them. I don’t even feel the need to name drop the artist I saw or document a theory on acoustics and their implications to the survival of our species. If interested, I saw the Paper Bag Players — worth looking up. This is a divinely novel group whose simplistic and playful nature allows one to lose themselves … I“m just kidding.
This place is great for several reasons. It’s easily accessible by train. It offers a wide array of events; the pretentious Brooklyn hipster and realist Queens girl can both be satisfied; though the hipster will still complain. Symphony Space has a great lay out; none of the seats suck. The staff are really nice. There are plenty of bathrooms and they are clean — with motorized napkin dispensers which I love. There is a darling little café, always open to the public with or without tickets to an event, it’s less known and I’ve never seen it too crowded though I hope they get that kind of business soon, and it offers a large open window.
Even the good reviews on here have less than 5 stars — it’s not a performance review on your employee and with the struggle businesses have surviving; it seems irresponsible to give less than 5 stars when satisfied even if you have a sound system theory that you want to espouse.
Enjoy.

Symphony Space is the venue most often used by the Irish Arts Center for larger productions that are not hosted at the Center. I recently had the pleasure of attending a performance celebrating the music of Harrigan and Hart on the 100^th anniversary of Harrigan’s death. The show put together by the might Mick Moloney was fantastic, performers top notch and the accoustics great. Only unfortunate par was my seat was off on the left hand side obscuring my view of the slide show that was projected behind the performers. I was glad to be in the house, but would have preferred to have known that the seat is «partially obstructed» or permits only partial view of the stage.
Another thing to note is that the theatre is very convenient to public transportation, with a subway stop on the 1 line right outside the theatre, and plenty of taxis available which can whip you back to Penn Station to catch the last train.
Public restrooms are small, so expect to queue up at intermission if you bladder beckons. They do have a bar for patrons that I did not take advantage of.

I recently went here for the Manhattan Film Festival.
We got there about an hour before the show started and it was very dim inside. I almost didn’t find the box office (which is literally right there) simply because it was so dark. When we returned right before the show began, we found it was brighter and the air conditioning was blowing.
We were directed downstairs to where the Thalia café is. Very cute bar/​café. The screening room was right next door and closed off until 5 minutes before the show began. We finally got in and found a few rows of original movie theater-​style seating then padded folding chairs leading to the small screen in the front of the room. Very small space and the layout is a bit odd, especially with the different kinds of seats, but still a very nice intimate place to catch a movie such as the one we watched. The staff is also super-​friendly and helpful. I would like to check out some other events here.