Brush Problem or Overall Polycount?

I've run into this occasionally and I believe it has to do with a combination of polygons and brushes concentrated in view, but I am just curious if anyone else has seen such a vast difference in First and Third person views and framerates. Here are a couple screens:



I can move the player forward and back in third person and within a few steps of the theater seats I have a drop of over sixty frames per second, drop into first person and the come right back up. Is the player model carrying that many polys or is it just enough to push it over the top combined with the concentration of brushes in the seats? Just curious. I have other solutions, but they're not my first choice.

Thanks, Alan