"Fela!"'s Missed, Genius Rush Opportunity

Fela! is a wildly unique and outside-the-box-thinking Broadway production. I thought so and so does just about every major theater critic. And with 86 percent of its tickets sold last week, it's a fair hit. But I just read a fantastic gem of an idea New York Magazine delivered in it's final paragraph of their review for Fela! that would have been a ridiculously exciting and original rush concept. Here's the block quote from reviewer Dan Kois:

Given the concert conceit of Fela!, and the audience participation that its stars encourage, I wish they’d just ripped the first ten rows out of the orchestra and sold those spots for ten bucks to music lovers. It probably would’ve violated a fire code or some union contract, but it also might’ve helped the energy in the crowd match the exceptional energy onstage.

First of all, the $10-general-admission-pit rush idea is brilliant. It made me excited just to read and consider the notion. I can just imagine how much fervor that would draw out of fans, or rather how much more enthused it would make theater goers about the show. People would feel rabid about this show, like they feel about the Hair revival, spurred on by the nightly invitation for the audience to come dance on stage. A $10 price would be perfect to not only match up with the fact that there would be no seat, but also to reflect the atmosphere and realism of the story's setting. It certainly didn't cost $85 to get into Fela's Shrine nightclub.

Kois's idea of ripping out rows of seats is definitely radical, and I am kind of on board (although I don't want to damage the beautiful Eugene O'Neill Theatre). That, however, would be a massive undertaking and an extra cost to Fela!'s backers to restore whenever its run ends. But who are we kidding? Jay-Z and Will Smith have the money—let's make this happen! (Not to mention we'd also have the newest chamption for Cheapest Rush Ever! ...Fine, there was also this one.)

Photo: Monique Carboni