So Patti Lupone is opening a new cabaret space in New York called 54 Below. (It's below the former Studio 54, now home to Roundabout Theatre Co.) I was struck by this promo that hit my INBox today inviting me to purchase tickets and email the date of the performance I'll be attending with my personal request for Ms. Lupone's encore number. Presumably, these emailed requests will then be pulled from a hat and one lucky audience member will glow as the opening chords of that little obscure ballad they've dreamed of hearing interpreted by Lupone fill the room.
But what about the other hundred folks whose song was not selected? Do they endure the encore thinking how much they wish their suggestion had been picked and how much better it would have been had it been?
I'm not sure. The jury's still out on what these sorts of initiatives are going to do in the longrun. But the intention is clear: If live theatre (and cabaret, even moreso) are going to survive, producers have to come up with creative ways of cultivating a sense of ownership among their audiences.
I wonder what other similar experiments along these lines are popping up. And is anyone tracking their success?
