Seats On Stage

The New York Times has an interesting article about people sitting on stage during theater productions. I've always liked to be as close to the actors as I can and I think that certain productions lend themselves very well to on-stage seating. I've also enjoyed being on stage during orchestral performances (The Vienna Philharmonic) and rock concerts (Prince) too. If you can forget about feeling self-conscious up there, you get an experience like no other.

But I don't think that sitting on stage works for every kind of live performance experience. It can be distracting. I found this to be the case when I attended a performance of Spelling Bee at the Post Street Theatre in San Francisco about a year ago. Audience members sit on stage for a good portion of the show. They're actually part of the show. They get shepherded around by ther performers and eventually knocked out of the spelling competition, one by one. I don't think their presence on stage added to the experience. One or two of the people up there kept grimacing. I wanted them all knocked out of the competition sooner so I could just enjoy the show.