Free trips to ‘Atlanta’ offered

You couldn’t beat the discount price for the Geffen Playhouse’s floundering production of “Atlanta,” which, despite a drubbing by critics and spotty attendance, was extended to run through Jan. 13.

Until they were sold out on Tuesday, online ticketing agency Goldstar was offering select free seats to the Civil War-era musical by Marcus Hummon and Adrian Pasdar. Original price: $40 to $50.

The Geffen offered Goldstar “a couple hundred seats to each show to kind of jump-start the audiences for the extension,” said Steve Eich, the playhouse’s managing director.

“The reasoning was to ensure that in this final week of the run they were not having to play for 115 people or something, and we’re hoping that it will stimulate other sales. We wanted to make sure there was a foundation for the extension, and we have a lot of people who want to see the play but don’t have $75 to spend on a ticket.”

-- Lynne Heffley