ASU Gammage Reviews

Good place for musicals. Not a very good place for graduation ceremonies as the lighting is terrible for taking photos of graduates as they receive their diplomas.

Shows, staff and improved facilities have made the shows memorable.

Saw the musical Waitress. We had seats in the center orchestra. Enjoyed it but the sound wasn't great. I think Gammage needs an update. Though bathrooms were nice and plentiful, parking is a challenge.

Very clean theatre and area staff was very friendly.

The architecture is beautiful on the inside and the outside. The service was great at the Wicked show. The seats were pretty comfortable. I would definitely recommend to here again and again for any kind of show.

Great auditorium! Isles are wider than most for walking by people to get to your seats. I was on the second row of the lower balcony, about 15 or so seats in towards the middle. It was a great seat, especially for a balcony seat. Go 30 min early to anticipate a traffic back up getting to the Apache Blvd parking structure/garage just before a performance. Once in though, parking isn't too difficult. Costs $12.00. A short 7-10 min walk to auditorium.

Beautiful venue but incredibly poor acoustics inside of the performance space.

Once was by far the worst production I've ever seen at Gammage. People were allowed in to show long after production started. The dialog was not distint enough to be understood, nor was it loud enough. Lyrics were undistinguishable. Definately not up to the standard I expect for production at Gammage. Exceptionally disappointing.

There is not a bad seat at Gammage. We find the balcony to be a great vantage point for shows here; great view and great price!

Love the shows here. Last one I went to was Chicago. New and returning shows always come here. A great form of entertainment, a good Broadway experience without going to Broadway. Located right on the ASU Tempe campus.

Very beautiful and large. So much live plays going on!

Always great performances. Seating is good almost anywhere in the theater. Sound could be better.

Gammage is the most vertical auditorium I have been in. I am used to theaters like the Orpheum where seats have a gradual rise. At gammage the balcony is so steeply vertical that you can't see much of the back of the stage and you mostly see the tops of heads. The seats are the standard theater fare, just comfortable enough to last until intermission before you get too fidgety. For all the tall people, the legroom is better than many other venues.

Facility is aging but well cared for. Staff and services sufficient. Parking is horrible. Seats in upper balcony are at too steep of angle and and made me feel dizzy

Went to see Waitress the Musical. Easy parking. Nice people. Nice place.

Beautiful building with great history and lovely acoustics.

Nice venue! Not a bad seat in the house. N great place to see a show!

Like the new elevators. Location and speed could be better. I would like more handicap seating now, please.

You can't go wrong with Gammage! Everyone should have the chance to see a show here at least once.

Nice theater and a very funny show! Enjoyed it immensely.

I ABSOLUTELY love attending anything at Gammage Auditorium! Everything about the experience used to be very upper-class! The venue, itself, is an architectural beauty designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and I just love being there!! I LOVE broadway musicals and because ASU is a 30 minute drive from home, I could get to one and get back in the same evening without being away too long. I see one or two shows per season and always come away feeling euphoric! That is, until the last run of Wicked.

Sometime (not sure exactly when) ASU started selling adult beverages and snacks and allowing patrons to consume them during shows! WHAT. THE. HECK!! This is not Chase Field! This is not a cheap movie theater! This is an experience that in some cases costs upwards of $250 a seat! How have we fallen so low as a society that we have forgotten proper etiquette for attending a live performance?!

I attended a performance of Wicked on May 3. This particular show is one of my favorites and my husband gave tickets to my fifteen year old daughter and I for our birthdays in late January. I had highly anticipated this night for three and a half months! We arrived in time, checked in and found our seats. The other audience members trickled in. I noticed right away that the two ladies on my right were each holding TWO full adult beverages. The lady on my left came in toting a huge glass of the smelliest beer I had ever smelled. They were drinking and laughing and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The show started and so did the obnoxious behavior. The two ladies on the right talked loudly through the entire show! The volunteer hostess, Diane, admitted late people THREE times after the show had started. All of them tromping on our toes and momentarily blocking our view. One lady came down the aisle and said which seat are you in? to every person in the aisle. During intermission, I went into the restroom and was in a stall next to a woman who was vomiting over and over. The smell was awful!

After intermission the ladies on my right came back with four more full glasses, and it was pretty obvious that they were getting intoxicated. The gentleman on my left turned his phone on and continually checked texts and the weather and every once in a while his disability strobe light feature would go off and flash bright lights over the whole section. The lady in front of me turned her phone on and Shazam-ed the live music as it was being performed.

During the Munchkinland scene with the corn stalks, the lady on my right yelled OH MY GOSH!! THEY RE IN KANSAS!! And then spilled her beer all over the floor and the patron in front of her, causing the guy in front of her to jump and knock into the person next to him, which caused a loud disturbance. Both of those ladies were laughing loudly through the entire show.

When the show was over and we got up to leave, there was trash all over the floors! Cups full of ice left in the traffic areas to be kicked over, Cheeze-it crackers and wrappers strewn under the seats! This beautiful building, which holds so much significance to so many, is being abused and mistreated by patrons who feel that their own enjoyment and entertainment is more important than having manners and proper etiquette for the setting which they are in! As a child, I was taught that even chewing gum in a theater is bad manners. There were a lot of children in attendance, did anyone think about them? And what about all the intoxicated drivers released on the streets of Tempe after the show?! How many accidents are they causing??

Don t get me wrong, I still LOVE Gammage and I adore live preforming arts, but my experience at Wicked was HIGHLY hampered by a current policy. I can imagine that ASU is making a HUGE amount of money from selling concessions in the lobbies, but I would plead for this policy to be changed! There is a time and a place... and this is NOT it!! The experience was NOT as enjoyable and the desire to go back is not as strong. Frank Lloyd Wright would be disgusted. This is NOT a ball game! Don t treat it like one!!

Went to see Wicked amazing perform a nice. Nice up to date facility.

I ve seen a few shows here & always leave happy.

Architects & Designers (may love or hate it) but likely will appreciate the buzzard Frank Loyd Wright designed structure as a unique piece of art. I ve had both very good seats & upper deck, and the sound & view is good everywhere I ve sat. Obviously the view is always best front & center, but that s not always available (: Gammage showcases a large variety of shows & holds around 3000 people, so its not too difficult to get tickets.

It's such a wonderful experience. All the shows are Amazing. I have going for years with my niece. It's a prefect place for culture, relaxing, and fun.....

Really nice venue, comfy seats, excellent acoustics.

This place is amazing! Not one for musicals but the performances they have changed my mind.
I have seen book of mormon, wicken, lion king, if/then and they have all exceeded my expectations.

This is in a dense part of town so parking can seem difficult at times. Go early.

Amazing history, Broadway shows, and a great location make this place an experience in itself.

Visited the auditorium and it was huuuuge. Great acoustics. Thinking to visit again for play.

Drink were strong and there is plenty of space between rows so it's easier to get by when people are sitting.

Wonderful! The Theater is great! Wicked was fun and well done! Enjoyed it!!

The play was good, but the balcony seating scared the living daylights out of me. Several times I almost fell into the people below. My wife started falling but a man grabbed her. That place is not designed for n for people who have disabilities, I know!

I would never want to get balcony seats. They are less expensive but scary scary scary!

Very expensive alcoholic drinks and concessions. Otherwise great venue

Once you figure out where the entrance portals and bathrooms are it's pretty easy to avoid the crowds. I've seen a few shows here from different seats and have enjoyed them all.

Great variety in shows. Need better parking options.

Have always the loved the performances and the updated bathroom space has been a win.

PRO TIPS:
Check your show dates--sometimes the actors will host a special session where they answer audience questions after the show. So cool!
There's great sound quality and visibility from all seating sections, even the edges of the "nose-bleeds." :)
ASU groups often hold free performances here, all very talented!
The bathrooms were recently updated, and are now very efficient, clean, and high-tech. I suggest using one just to see how cool it is, lol.
Great for kids of ages 5 to 99. :)

We love coming here to watch a variety of Broadway shows! The seats are comfortable, and they have enough stations in the hallway to grab a snack or refill on a drink without waiting too long. There are plenty of places to park nearby, and restaurants to grab dinner before the show. Highly recommend for a fun night out!

Great place to watch Wicked! The reason for the 5th star is due to me watching one staff member go above and beyond by helping a man who was paralyzed eat his snacks and didn't hesitate to help.

It's a great space, but parking is a pain. The lot isn't big enough.

Fun experience, great cocktails (they aren't stingy with the liquor!), and super shows. You can't go wrong with Gammage!

Aladdin was an amazing show. Gammage is a beautiful venue. Such a great time every time we go.

A little dated but all seats have a great view of the stage. Food prices are high.

Amazing auditorium and really beautiful from the inside too.

The upper balcony isn't great but that's to be expected. Was hard to hear a lot of the performance.

Clean theatre, very organized, staff runs the facility very smoothly. Prices on the foods and beverages were decent and not outrageous. Nice that you can bring your own water. The seats were comfortable and the rows were very spacious, plenty of leg room. Our seats were in the grand tier c1 row 6, I liked how we were higher up and could see everything however it was pretty high to where the the people on stage looked very small and some things were hard to see. The other thing I noticed from this angle is the large ceiling speakers blocked some of the stage backdrop and depending what show you are seeing you may not be able to see everything on the stage.

My favorite place to see something. I've seen quite a few plays AND Tori Amos here. Awesome accoustics. Not a bad seat in the house!

very good! New students meet here will be made! pretty good!

Terrible acoustics; difficult to get to seats; parking is a mess; lack of elevators makes restroom visits during intermission physically challenging. An overall nightmare.

I did not know there was no parking for free ,10 dollors everywhere

Fantastic!! Saw Waitress, wonderful musical. Amazing talent!

Feel good and entertaining. School of Rock. Theater is nice. Crowds move in and out quickly.

Facility is beautiful, however never buy front row balcony seats. They said they were obstructed view and that is no lie! We missed huge parts of the show that happened off stage. Also the safety bar cuts the performer in half and you can't see what's happening waist down...so certain sight gags were completely lost on us. Miserable experience...

I could see the show well. Big problem with restrooms. Only 1 on 1st floor and it was only able to accommodate one person at a time.

Great acoustics, and expensive food, bur very good!

Good play. Weird bathroom arrangements. $10 drinks.

Needs a little cleaning up inside, a better form of parking (but that's a Tempe issue)...the performances are spectacular though, I highly recommend seeing one.

Its so orange and its so big. Its nostalgic for me but I just cant stand the color palate of the building. Its too big for a performance to feel intimate unless you are in the first 5 rows.

Broadway series is terrific! Bring a sweater...it's cold inside. It's sometimes hard to understand the words. Sound is still not great.

I do like that there isn't a center isle, just bigger rows.