The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 3 plus 4 letter word BELOW THE SALT
B
E
L
O
W
T
H
E
S
A
L
T
More clues leading to the result BELOW THE SALT
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "in the cheap seats" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case in the cheap seats = below the salt.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.