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The Times conducts an insanely in-depth exploration of the seating in popular Broadway theaters. After much measuring, poking, and prodding, they turn to Glen Gillen, an occupational therapy professor at Columbia, for an assessment of the situation:

"The first thing that happens is that you sit in an awkward position, you try to twist your body you twist your knees in one direction, and then your spine, neck and pelvis are all out of alignment," said Mr. Gillen [...] And when you start like that, Mr. Gillen said, you're not able to shift your weight back and forth to make yourself comfortable. That, in turn, lowers circulation, which causes discomfort, and allows your muscles to stiffen.

So not only is live theater boring as shit, but it's clearly dangerous. We'll have to remember this the next time someone tries to drag us to some Andrew Lloyd Webber debacle.
You Can Buy A Seat, But Can You Fit In It? [NYT]