Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

decent, modern, utilitarian opera hall … despite its newness this is a workhorse, not a thoroughbred — but it gets the job done

I saw the Nutcracker ballet here in December 2015. Just wow! Gorgeous show, and all the sets and costumes were done by local artisans and craftspeople. I’m so impressed by the sheer number of dancers and the massive effort to pull off a show like this. Some real talent right here in the PNW.
However, I’m not happy with the seat I had; it was to the far right and gave me a partial view of the stage, especially anything that was going on the right side/​back right corner of the stage. Bathrooms are nice — there is a long counter against a long wall-​mounted mirror.
I did see there was food and a restaurant but I didn’t bother to check pricing, since I assumed expensive.

Very beautiful venue for performances like the Nutcracker, but also fitting for an event like Social Venture Partners’ Fast Pitch event.
The seats are comfortable, and the bathrooms are so clean. The space outside the theater is so beautiful and spacious.
Parking in the area is tough, but the ambience here is very nice and great for big shows/​events.

This is a really nice performance hall. Nice seats, good acoustics, always a pleasant experience with the staff. The Seattle Opera is lucky to have this as a place to perform.

We are so blessed in Seattle to have such a wonderful option for seeing ballet and other arts in McCaw Hall. I’ve seen numerous PNB productions and other events here and I honestly don’t think there’s a bad seat in the house. The service and staff at ticketing and in the lobby are very courteous and polite (as well as helpful) and the concession prices and options are easily worth the cost. The only challenge sometimes: it can tend to get very stuffy and warm during many productions especially as you get into the third act. So don’t be afraid to take advantage of that coat check and leave it outside…

4.5 stars. Modern, great acoustics and pretty much every seat has a great view. They have an interesting selection of artists/​concerts. The sign outside is a little dim, making it a little hard to find. The Pacific Northwest Ballet is a good landmark.

Beautiful venue. Parking garage with skybridge for easy parking and access. Acoustics are great and love that the seats are generous. Food we got was actually good (cheese/​nut/​fruit plate at $ 8 and a $ 6 Trophy cupcake — good but overpriced). Always look forward to coming to shows here!
The Nutcracker is phenomenal and had the honor of doing a pre-​show dinner/​meet and greet with Hall and Oates here (one of the best nights ever!).

Just saw The Nutcracker here and it is such a beautiful venue! There are three floors for entrance including a sloped ground floor, a first tier & a second tier. We sat in the first tier and thought the seats were perfect! Our friends were on the second tier and felt like they were in the nosebleeds but still had a clear view.
The venue itself was lovely. There were never any lines for the bathrooms (a set on each end of each floor), there were drinks on each floor, they invited you to pre-​order for intermission, there was food, a gift shop & lovely decorations for the nutcracker or for other shows.
Really lovely venue!

I’ve been to McCaw Hall quite a few times, and find it comparable to Benaroya Hall, downtown. Parking is off-​site, though there is a bridge which keeps one mostly covered and out of the rain. Parking was $ 15 for the day. Inside, the facility is modern with plenty of large restrooms that seat dozens of patrons. When compared to older venues, such as The Paramount, this is stellar and worthy of a 5-​star review. The finer dining options, cafes, and gift shop adds to the experience.

Lovely venue. Easy parking across the street with a skybridge directly to McCaw hall, but it’s pricey ($ 15 flat fee for events).
If you want a bite to eat, concessions are only open during «official opera events» — we discovered that the hard way when the restaurant told us they were closed, but that the concessions were open on the night we were attending a concert, and that they served sandwiches, salads, cheeses, etc. Wrong!
The concessions were all closed except Starbucks and a bar serving only sweets — cupcakes, cookies, brownies. No other food options. So, if you’re attending an event other than an opera at McCaw, and you want to grab a bite, plan to do so elsewhere.

The sound here is fabulous, and the seating is great. On top of that, the place looks great. Compared to the old Opera House of about ten years ago, the transformation is amazing. It’s like you’re no longer in the beat-​up environs of Seattle Center.
I’ve been here for several shows. I think the first shows I caught here were Bo Diddly and The Bind Boys of Alabama? The latest was Bryan Ferry. I’ve had seats in the middle, in the raised portion on the right side, and in one of the middle boxes on the right side. All gave me great views of the stage. The seating is comfortable and doesn’t feel cramped.
The lobby is open and inviting, the interior is almost warm and cozy It’s posh enough that you won’t fee overdressed in a suit, but Seattle enough that you won’t feel like a suit is required.

The Hall is a little dated, but it’s definitely very clean and was state of the art 20+ years ago. Peter Schiff recently held his lecture here and I could here him very well. The only thing I did not like and this isn’t necessarily a function of the Hall, but there’s not much parking going on around there. Yes, there is public parking, but if there are other functions going on, good luck finding parking space.

You really can’t ask for much more, especially if you’re used to the old Opera House days here. If you never went back then, well, you still get the same mileage out of the new place – it just doesn’t seem quite as miraculous that they shoehorned a nice performance space into this location.
Start with the exterior. It’s that sort of too-​clever modern touch that seems preoccupied with calling attention to materials rather than doing any aesthetic or functional. At least that’s what I thought at first (this must be 10 years ago, or more, by now). They hung a bunch of metal twisted-​wire scrims above the patio, creating a filtering effect for the light, precipitation, and wind. You feel connected to the building, without being under a portico or anything like that. It’s a great solution, and creates a nice entrance for the north side of Seattle Center as well.
They’ve put in a horizontal fountain, as well – the water slowly gurgles down a slope in the sidewalk, where it recirculates through a drain. There are resting benches along it, so you can hang out before the show. This seemed overly clever at first, too, but has come to grow on me quite a lot. As long as you aren’t on crutches or anything, it’s easy to walk right through, as you would any other rain-​slicked surface nearby. But people route around, and let the people on the benches gaze distantly at the ripples running down the stones. Nice.
All this is actually very necessary to rehabilitate what used to be here, even though the changes are permanent. What used to be here was a big rough concrete box. It looked like a junior high from early 1960s, except maybe with a higher roofline. The materials and proportions all looked like they had been selected to maximize the budget, even though this place was built as part of the Seattle World’s Fair, which was a well-​funded showcase for the best of everything around here (at the time). The Opera House just kinda faded into the background architecturally, and the passing years made it worse. McCaw money seems to have remedied that.
Inside, the lobby feels light and airy now, and wide-​open. It used to be so cramped and confined that you wondered whether the event you were attending was supposed to be a secret. But the Opera put on good performances here, and the Symphony put on many fine performances in this building. PBS came and filmed them, and they recorded many well-​selling recordings of modern compositions. They’ve done more recording since moving to their new home downtown, but they did cut some when this was their home base. They just didn’t record them IN the Opera House, because the acoustics there stank. You could hardly hear the violins, at least by the standards of symphony concert halls.
They seem to have remedied the acoustics issues here. We saw two bands last night that both plugged in (Bryan Ferry, and whoever had opening for him). But they sounded great, and the room cupped the sound well, no booms or echoes. They sounded like they were in the seat next to you.
The layout is welcoming as well. You walk up grand gradual stairs to an open mezzanine with a snack bar and cocktail bar. Inside, the balcony now runs two long wings gradually down to floor level, so people on the edges get a lift to their view. Gives you more choices to find your seat. There are still two balconies over the large main floor, and the orchestra pit is open for very-​prime seating during performances when they don’t need it for the band (like, say, an opera or ballet). Seats are comfortable, staff is friendly. They program plenty of different kinds of performance here, up to and including the more-​polite forms of rock and roll (like Bryan Ferry). Looking forward to many more very good performances here.

McCaw Hall is an amazing venue. So architecturally beautiful and elegant.
Over the years, I’ve been to many operas, ballets, dress rehearsals, shows, and performances here never leaving less than 10 000% satisfied. They say there’s no «bad seat in the house». As long as you’re not sitting in front of someone taller than you, yes (!) it’s true. The architecture is beautiful
Parking here isn’t too hard find, surprisingly. There’s street parking and garage parking for a decent price.
Cutting through the Seattle Center makes it a quick walk from Belltown.
It’s worth it to be part of the Bravo club if you enjoy the performing arts.
LOVE McCaw Hall!

I love seeing events here.

For a really big venue, this place is pretty impressive. I like that even though it holds a ton of people, it doesn’t feel overly crowded like some places.
Not all seats have the greatest viewing — I’ve sat on the bottom level and on the top in the middle and had great views of the stage both times. However, I was told that some of the upper booths are harder to see.
The best part is that there are a ton of bathrooms… and during intermission, the lines are bearable. That’s hard to say about big venues like this one.
A good venue to come to when in Seattle. The parking is actually pretty decent as well. I usually park at the Seattle Center parking or at the Gates Foundation down the street.

McCaw Hall is a fantastic venue! In a previous life, I worked in event management — beginning as an usher and working my way up to management. The facility is well-​cared for, clean, aesthetically pleasing, and a perfect fit for many events that are held there. The event staff is professional and responsive.
Shows — I’ve been to a number of different types of shows there including children’s shows and grown up shows. Each time, I’ve had a consistent experience with the facility and the staff. Awesome!
Special Events — I’ve been to McCaw for formal conferences, exhibits, and fairs. I typically wouldn’t think of it as a facility for these kinds of events but it works. I was pleasantly surprised each time. They have a lot of rooms I was unaware of when I was just attending a show. I’d recommend a tour, asking staff questions, or wandering around. There’s a lot more in the building than I was aware of.
Staff — As I’ve already mentioned, the staff is completely professional. They know their stuff. I’ve also never so much as seen a paper towel on the floor or a spill that wasn’t immediately taken care of.
Facility — Uh, beautiful. Enough said. So many photo ops in and around this building. Bring your camera and your best smile!

As a subscriber to the Seattle Opera, I am here on a fairy regular basis, and I must say that I am a fan of McCaw Hall.
Here are my tips:
1. For good parking, and plenty of time to eat, get to the parking garage at least an hour before show time. Preferably an hour and a half. All of the restaurants in the immediate area are very busy on show nights, so service may not be speedy. Reservations at any nearby restaurant are a must.
2. Don’t pay for coat check. I always leave my coat on my seat during intermission and have never had anyone mess with it.
3. Order food for intermission BEFORE the show starts. You can go to the little food areas and pre-​order food and drink. When intermission comes, they will have your meal ready and waiting on a table for you. No need to wait in line or try to find a place to sit. :)
4. If, like me, you get cold easily, dress warmly and/​or bring a sweater. I always feel cold when I go to see the opera. Apparently, opera stars are big fans of air conditioning.
The Pacific Northwest Ballet performs here as well. It’s a great venue no matter what your reason is for going.

I’ve been to a handful of events at McCaw Hall over the years and it is one of my favorite venues.
The building is gorgeous inside and out. There’s plenty of parking nearby in the garages.
I just saw The Nutcracker put on by Pacific Northwest Ballet and the show was phenomenal. We all enjoyed it. We had some of the cheaper seats and even up near the top we had a great view and didn’t miss out on anything.
We’re lucky to have such a nice venue in Seattle!

McCaw Hall is located near parking garages and lots, so this eases the stress of finding a space before getting to the show. Only that that’s horrible is the lack of city planning; at the end of the show, it was an incredible ordeal to get through Mercer to 99 or I-​5.
Other than that, the hall itself was pretty good. Very clean with unconventional art choices, almost like an airport. We were in the 5^th row of the gallery for the Nutcracker and it had exceptional acoustics from our vantage point.