Keller Auditorium

I bought two tickets to see the Book of Mormon at the Keller Auditorium on January 19^th. Wonderful Musical. Loved the music. Would have loved to SEE the musical. We bought tickets for the first balcony, the front row, so NO ONE would be sitting in front of us and blocking our view. The box seats are in front of the balcony, but are quite a bit lower. EXCEPT for the very ends where it slopes up. There are two seats on each end of the balcony, where the box seats slope up. And if you sit in those seats, and someone sits in one specific seat in the box seats. bye bye stage. The only person whose head you might be able to see over would be a midget or a child. I ended up having to lean forward, and over to the right, pretty much in my daughters lap, and place my chin on the railing in order to see half the stage. Could never see the whole thing.
So avoid the first and second balcony seats in the first row on either end. You won’t be able to see if someone sits down in the box seats in front of you. A warning, a price cut, something would be nice. I am SO tired of paying money for seats where someone sits right in front of you and you can’t see. Why on earth would I go to a movie, play, concert or anything else if I CAN’T SEE A DARN THING !!! frustrating and it will be a cold day in you know what before I go back there. And I bought my tickets 6 months before the event. yeesh !! Laura

Went to see The Book of Mormon and even in a seat that was listed as «limited view» still had a great view of the stage. The bars in the lobby had manageable lines both before the play and during intermission but the bathroom lines upstairs and downstairs took the entire intermission to navigate through– other than that everything was perfect!

From our seats, outside edge of Aisle 1, we could NOT hear every word. The acoustics were pretty bad
The Book of Mormon would have been a better experience if the quality of sound was better. Voices were very muffled at times.

This place is great. Sound is perfect, ample seating, good selection of shows, from Pucsifier to Book of Mormon. Get here early the crowd rolls in kind of slow.

Sat in the first balcony, row A, seats 1 and 2. Sound was great but the patrons in front of us blocked our view a little. Would recommend another seat. Otherwise, a great auditorium!

Part of the Portland’5 network Keller is one-​of-​those-​things-​not-​like-​the-​other, the exterior is an unassuming corporate structure bordering on ugly yet inside Keller is modern and frankly impressive. Last night was my first time inside the auditorium, and it was spectacular, and huge, and for some reason smelled like cinnamon buns (win in my book).
My partner and I swung by the auditorium to try our luck at the Book of Mormon Lottery (A limited number of $ 25 (CASH ONLY) tickets are available 2.5 hours prior to performance) and won fantastic tickets to the show (which itself was as good as it gets, exceeding the hype and my expectations). The event staff were numerous, efficient, and cordial (Thank you!). Though the auditorium was at maximum capacity, with each seat filled, there was minimal to no wait to enter and be seated.
Sitting front row I can’t confidently comment as to the acoustics or lighting (from where we were seated a show by flash light with a whispering cast would have been spectacular), but judging by the post-​show standing ovation I’m led to believe the entire audience, from the back of the orchestra to the second tier of the massive mezzanines (there are two), were more then satisfied. The auditorium is well designed, I particularly appreciated the abundance of auditorium exit doors — after the sold out show there was no slow shuffle to exit, rather my partner and I were breathing fresh air in under 5 minutes.
A major benefit to attending a Keller performance is the location, it’s easily accessible by foot, public transit (bus or street car), and vehicle (sandwiched by ample parking/​garages). Additional plus, it’s surrounded by great food and drink options (–cough– Jackknife, Imperial, Veritable Quandary). So go, enjoy a show, I certainly did!

Went here to see Beauty and the Beast and my 5’2″ mother ended up behind a huge man! Like… sasquatch huge! I traded places with her thinking my 5’7″ large frame would be okay. Nope! Nothing but noggin! I got up and spoke with one of the Keller employees, who directed me to talk to the box office about changing seats. I tried that… they flat out told me «No. We don’t do that» THIS is why they get four stars instead of five. Why on God’s green earth would you NOT let someone, who has already paid, move to empty seats? The play was 2 minutes from starting… pretty sure they weren’t going to sell out before then. We weren’t asking for better seats… just seats where we could see the play instead of some big guys knothead. Sigh…
When I went back to the employee she directed us to alternate seats in the front row… then came back at intermission and directed us to better seats that hadn’t filled. (Not better than what we’d paid for… but further back so we could get a bigger view of the stage)
We had gone to the play to watch an out of town family member who was part of the cast. Had the employee not assisted us we would have missed most of the performance. Boo to the box office for not being unwilling to work with us… KUDOS to the actual on-​the-​floor staff member for doing everything she could to make sure we had a good experience!

The four stars are being given for the ballet performance of The Nutcracker. The seating was standard, the acoustics were not the best but having the live music during the performance was a big plus. The ballet was excellent, the costumes were wonderful. My wife and I really enjoyed the performance.
Now we also tried the Keller Café, this portion of the event is given two stars. The food was really a let down. The food was bland with no flavor and being served cool to room temperature made it even worse. The potato wedges and root vegetables seemed to be right out of a bag. The two items on the menu that were good was the turkey and dessert. The cocktails and the service were excellent. But with bad food and the $ 25 per person price tag, we will not return to the Keller Café. We know now to spend the dollars on a restaurant nearby.

Went here last night for the Legend of Zelda Symphony! During intermission, we took pictures in front of the stage. After that my bf proposed to me in front of everyone. The audience crowd clapped for us all the way to the balcony. It was an embarrassing and lovely experience for us here! Been going here ever since I was little for art performance in music and dance, so I have lots of wonderful memories here.

It’s a legendary place, people here had their first kiss and first laugh there… tis place has a national status, who’s who is performing there till today! would highly recommend to book a show there ANY SHOW and even at the second balcony which suppose to be up far from the main stage you catch every little sound.

We went to see Wicked. What a great production. As far as the auditorium, it was great as well. There’s a cute little park across the street with a stunning water feature. The facility itself was packed. Hard to move around. Once you are in the theatre itself, you are not allowed to take any photos at all. They are very strict about this. You are allowed to bring drinks purchased from the auditorium as long as there’s a lid. They provide kids for sodas, mixed drinks etc. So they have you covered. Unfortunately the dont provide cup holders once you are in your seat so you either have to hold it the whole time or put it on the ground where the chances of you knocking it over is pretty high. #fail. All and all it was a good time. Good venue!

I had the pleasure of see Wicked last night at the Keller Auditorium. I’ve seen a few shows there, and it’s always a wonderful experience. The theater is clean, the staff always friendly and getting in and out is never that difficult.
Yes, the lines do tend to back up during intermission… but regardless of the venue, that’s always the case.
I thouroughly enjoy nights spent at the Keller Auditorium and I’m sure that I’ll have many more in the future.

My FIRST musical was seen here! It was Wicked, btw, and it was amazing.
The auditorium is bigger than it looks from the hallway. They serve beer and wine, some chips, cookies, and roasted nuts!
The wine was expensive :(It was $ 8.50 for a teeny, tiny little plastic cup. AND, they make you put a lid over it before heading inside. It made me feel like a little kid drinking out of a sippy cup. Haha
There’s only two bathrooms: one by the entrance and the other is up the stairs. The second bathroom is kind of hidden, but the line goes by WAY quicker because no one knows about it!
I hope to come back and see another musical soon :)

Saw Eddie Izzard on Force Majeour tour here. Of course, I’m on the nosebleed seats, or the Weasley seating area. «At least, if it rains, we’ll be the first to know.» If you think you’ll be in this area, bring binoculars or something to help you see the performers. From where I was sitting, Eddie Izzard was as tall as my pointy finger.
There are two bars, but at the time, both of the bars only had two staff, which makes for a very very long line. (And that’s why it’s only 4 stars instead of 5)
The place has good acoustics and the staff were helpful.

The Rake’s Progress is marvelous!!! It was my first time in opera ever. Like Richard Gere said in «Pretty Woman»: you either love the opera or hate it at the first time. I feel that I’ve fallen in love with it. Want to see smth in Italian next time!!!

I saw Phantom of the Opera here. I enjoyed the show. There were a few issues that made the auditorium uncomfortable though.
1) The seats are very uncomfortable. I am pregnant and have back pain in general, but these seats made it 100% worse. It was like they were designed to aggravate back pain. My husband was also in considerable pain, enough that we were both so distracted by back pain that it was hard to really enjoy the show.
2) The visual display (with the lyrics/​script) was right in front of us and was very bright and distracting. I wish I had known that it would be right in front of us, for I would have gotten seats on the other side of the room if I had known.
3) It was COLD! I heard many people complaining about it.
I still enjoyed the show, but next time I’ll bring a thick sweater and take some Tylenol before the event. :)

I saw Faith No More here last night and it was easily the best concert experience of my life. This is a really nice venue with a great sound system, and the layout is set-​up so that every seat in the auditorium has a good view of the stage. The staff were kind, courteous, and extremely helpful in showing people to their seats. Best of all, they had the air conditioning going! I’ve been to so many concerts where there’s no A/​C and it’s just hundreds of people in a cramped room sweating all over each other, so this was a huge improvement.
Like I mentioned earlier, I was here for a concert, so I’m not sure how good it is for other things like plays or stand-​up comedy shows. But as a venue for concerts, it’s the best I’ve been to so far.

I’ve recently seen the Portland Opera’s rendition of Carmen and also the Portland Ballet’s Cinderella. I’ve got to say that as a student, I really applaud the discounted student tickets (student rush). I could not afford these productions otherwise.
The Keller has a lovely cocktail serving area and food for purchase. They even have a ‘by donation’ water box for bottled water (next to the water fountain).
During intermission, it is cool to step outside and take pictures next to the really amazing fountains.
In the back seats on aisle 4, lower level, it got really hot during Cinderella. I think they need to work on the ventilation in that area. Otherwise, it is a beautiful place to go and enjoy an evening at the theater. I can’t quite agree with Ada Louise Huxtable calling the redesigned auditorium «a building of unrelieved blandness» as I like the tall windows and lobby space.

How have I not reviewed the Keller yet? I go here all the time since I am a ballet and opera fan. The seats are pretty ok compared to some other venues which just get smaller and smaller with less legroom than an airplane (which is pretty bad). Recently you can even bring your drinks to your seat which is lovely versus trying to chug a $ 6 shot of Merlot during intermission. When they have things you can purchase in the lobby they do not charge crazy amounts for it also. To me this is like the people’s venue or something and it shows — you see many people dressed to the nines and some with street clothes. Parking nearby is great too — you can even find street parking at times but the garage close by makes it very affordable and easy to park for performances which is great.
The craziest thing I saw at the Keller? The Sex Pistols… you have not lived until you have watched little old ladies leading punks with blue mohawks to their seats or all front row seating being stomped on, ripped out and thrown (YES, THROWN) to the side in lieu of a mosh pit. Me and a friend watched from the first balcony in awe… it was rad.

I’ve seen a few shows at the Keller — mostly stand-​up or live performance like plays, and as far as larger venues go, this is a good one. The acoustics are solid, there are not too many bad seats in the house, access is decent, parking in the area is good, and they do a decent job of crowd control. While its interior design is not particularly striking, it does have somewhat of a minimalist appeal to it. And the exterior design shares a similar utilitarian, midcentury bent.
The only real downside to attending events here are the bar lines and prices, both of which can trend toward a little extreme. $ 10 for a single call spirit and $ 4.25 for a small bottle of water are both slightly outrageous prices. But hey, captive audience and lack of alternatives in the area make for ripe conditions for overcharging.
Other than those two pitfalls, this is a solid place to catch some entertainment.