The Rush Is On at Doolittle for Last-Minute $10 Tickets

Public Rush made its debut at Tuesday’s performance of “The Piano Lesson” at the Doolittle Theatre--and 45 theatergoers showed up to take advantage of the new policy. According to the plan, all remaining seats for performances (except Saturday nights) will go on sale 10 minutes before the 8 p.m. curtain. The price: $10 cash--as opposed to the regular $26-$36.

“I would’ve come anyway, but this was a major incentive,” said Kim Zucco. Out-of-towners Hy and Frances Brenner also termed the new rush “an incentive,” as did Joel Weiss, who waxed nostalgic about Broadway’s half-price Tkts Booth and expressed hope that the rush policy would spread to other theaters. Added Chris Fink, “I’d heard good things about the play, but this definitely spurred me on. Without this, I might’ve put it off and ended up not going.”

Brian Van Buren had seen the play last week with friends. “But my roommate is on a fixed income, and he can’t afford $36. So I was real pleased when I saw the (announcement). The only thing I’m disappointed about is, I was hoping that with a price of $10, more of the black community would be able to come. But I look at the line . . . “ He appraised the scarcity of black faces around him and sighed.

Although theater employee Kim Cruise was to have notified those in line that the rush seats were all in the balcony that night, no one polled by The Times had been informed. None, however, seemed to mind. “I wasn’t told, but I assumed it would be in the balcony,” said Joel Walsh, who’d already made plans to come--at full price. “When I called the theater last week, that was all they had.” The small, terse rush sign, Cruise noted, will be soon replaced by a more detailed one explaining the rush policy.

If an unsuspecting theatergoer shows up intending to pay full price? “If people come up and ask me about the rush,” Cruise said, “I’ll tell them.” The box office will also volunteer the information.