Seating flexibility enters color zone

If you’re planning to see a show at La Jolla Playhouse’s new Potiker Theatre, consider your choice of zones: orange, green, blue, yellow or red.

Because the theater was designed to be used in a wide range of seating configurations, with capacities that range from 280 to 450, tickets aren’t assigned to individual seats. But the seating isn’t quite “general admission,” either.

Instead, each ticket buyer is sent to a particular zone within the theater and then chooses a seat within that area first come, first served.

The zones are determined by relative distance from the action, in the order listed above. The orange zone is the front row, while the red zone has the least desirable seats, priced slightly lower because of distance or obstructions.

The system gives theatergoers an idea of where they’ll sit and allows them to make plans with fellow patrons -- as long as they show up with enough time to get the preferred seats within their reserved zone, says the playhouse’s director of communications, Lendre Kearns.

For subscribers, the zones correspond roughly to the seating areas in the company’s other theaters.

Complaints have come primarily from people who want an aisle seat -- which can’t be arranged in advance.

-- Don Shirley