ONCE ON THIS ISLAND (2017) Previews — Page 4

Wick3 said: "Patty3 said: "Looking at seating and there is a strange gap on the left side of the seating chart that cuts a path through rows AA to D (in the 200s -odd numbers). For those who have seen the show can you tell me what this is? And would seats in that area be OK?"

Those are great seats! If you get the front row of the small triangular section that looks like an island in itself, you literally walk on the set (sand) to get to your seat.

Tehre reallly is no bad seat in the theater and it feels immersive like you're in the island as well but there is no explicit audience participation during the show (so in case you're nervous to sit in the front row, don't worry!)"

Thanks for the help with the seating. I picked row C which is on the path. If anyone else is looking for tickets, they extended some of the discounts until Dec 24. I got an email and it is also on Playbill Club discounts.

I sat in the Riverbank seats at Circle in the Square for The River and that was an amazing experience.

Updated On: 11/13/17 at 01:40 PM

We sat with a group just above this area. second row from the top.

It's a walking area for actors to come in and out from backstage = and pull up and down chandeliers for busy and long move to the palace scene. Used for Salonga & 20 young children who enter on the final song (like at some community versions) to show how the "story" continues to be told to youth by the young girl who watches the show. I think it's a spot for a telephone pole that stands up by the end of the play..

The stage action confused the story. The man who plays the woman character was great and the other guy in several spots. To the surprise of our family, the gods who we thought would represent our community better. they seemed to get the parts to make a particular vision happen instead of help the story of the play . casting could have been better. movement of story was confusing sometimes. Enjoyed the choreography when not distracting even if seen similar before. There's $ in this play making the vision work but doesn't always help the tale. felt forced. Happy to have the show near our home - but it's a little all over the place for the great white way. Three women we sat next to had done the play before were happy to have seen it but also felt the play had sacrificed a lot. An okay night at the theater for our family. play is good. the circle in the square version is fine but not great or the tony winner.

Updated On: 11/13/17 at 02:19 PM

Patty3 said: "Just went to add this to my calendar and realized that Dec 3 is opening night. But I was able to buy tickets on Telecharge for that date. I hope I don't get an email canceling my order. I did a search online but could not find any info that the opening night date was changed.I would think by now (3 weeks out) they would know what they are doing with the opening. There are very few dates that work for me for the month of December."

Opening night is on evening of Dec 3rd; not matinee. You probably bought tickets for the last preview, which is on Dec 3rd matinee.

Good to see Whizzer as the sense of reason. Everyone here has to be skeptical of positive reviews on the board because Davenport has all these interns pretending to be real fans. It's sad really.

Most of the positive reports in this thread are either from regular posters, or people who made their accounts a while ago - I guess the latter group could still be Davenport's interns who already had accounts or whatever but it doesn't scream "shill" to me.

I won't deny that it's very in character for Davenport to pull a stunt like that, but it's also very in character for cynical BWW posters to come up with ways to discredit people who disagree with them to make themselves feel more secure in their minority opinion. It's like BroadwayWorld message board 101 at this point.

I don't put it past a producer to slip in a few raves on a message board, but this show doesn't need them. I've now seen it twice and audience response has been very, very, positive. I don't understand the "over produced" comments. A musical needs to move, it needs imagination and a Director who takes risks. It needs to be clever. Arden fills the stage with wonders but then he lets it slows down and allows Leah Salonga to just walk across the stage and sing that beautiful song so gently, it's a stunning moment and there are many more.

I respect Whizzer.... opinions, but I totally disagree, the Direction is flawless in telling the story using the music and that whole theatre. There will always be naysayers but the sparks and warmth of this show just shine. And yes Miller and Boykin are exceptional in a hugely talented cast, they are the heart of the piece. That said, I think the 2 young leads are incredibly promising and exciting to watch. I am glad to see the positives overshadowing the negatives on this board. Go see it for yourself. I might be there, it is such a joy to sit through.

I'm not sure if there is a center-most part seating section. I saw it for the third time last night when my friend 'won' the lottery (I was the plus one) and I sat in the even 200s on the right side. From that angle, I saw more of what happened towards the upper section of the theater but didn't feel like I missed out on anything that I had seen in other seats (sat in lower right section of the theater and lower left section of the theater.) Also, from where I sat last night, I noticed that Alex Newell actually cooks! He cut some veggies and fruits and we heard sizzling and even smelled the delicious aroma in the pre-show. That's something I didn't notice sitting from the bottom part of the theater (where the water/lake is.)

I'd say the theater was 90% occupied last night. My friend and I saw Michael Arden and Nikki James sitting on the left side last row of odd 200s so if that's where the director and asst director are sitting it must have a great view (personally i don't think there are any bad seats in the house.)

Compared to the performances I saw last Saturday, the rain is back!!! Also, the wind gusts I felt from my seat were more subtle but definitely gave a feeling that there was an impending storm coming. Also, the students don't enter from all the aisles; they just enter from the upper part of the stage which I thought was a smart change (makes the song less 'cheesy'. One kid was even late lol!

One thing I forgot to mention that I really appreciated was how there was an usher who explicitly told every one that this is a 90 minute show without intermission.

As for Davenport, I think it was a smart move to let everyone wwho showed up at the lottery win. At the moment, this show needs good word of mouth and free advertising to help with advanced sales by opening night. I noticed from comparing the OOTI and Wicked lotteries that for the most part OOTI lottery starts after the Wicked lottery (perhaps to attract Wicked lottery losers?) The exception would be Saturdays when both lotteries occur at the same time for some reason. Anyway, since it was Monday evening, Wicked didn't have a performance so there weren't that many people for OOTI rush lottery. The person who sat next to me had gone to several in person lotteries in the past and told me that's what happend with annual spelling bee as well when it was at the Circle in the Square several years ago (its in person lottery was always after Wicked's too.)

I really can't wait to see this next week.

LesWickedly said: "tickets are onsale through December of next year (how crazy is Davenport?)"

LMAO. Oh, Ken.

I saw this last night and absolutely loved it. From the moment I walked in I was mesmerized, it felt unlike any other production I have seen. Full disclosure: I am a relative new comer to the theater world, and am not familiar with the original source material. But I thought the production was spectacular, and the audience was entranced the entire performance.The staging made it feel intimate, and the use of light and sound transported me for the entire 90 minutes. There were technical issues that clearly need to be worked out, but I am sure those will be resolved by the time previews end. I have to be honest, there are elements of the story line that I find troubling, but I thought it was well done and I enjoyed the production overall.

Now...let's talk about Hailey Kilgore. OH MY WORD. She is a breath of fresh air. My jaw literally dropped when she started singing "Waiting for Life". She completely gave herself to her performance and it was both beautiful and heartbreaking. I truly think she deserves a Tony nomination for her performance, and I can't wait to see what she does next. I was also excited to see Alysha Deslorieux in this production, as I originally saw her stand in for Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton and LOVED her performance. She was phenomenal, and had the audience in the palm of her hand during her scenes. I don't think this production was groundbreaking, but I think there were a few standout performances and all in all it was a fun night at the theater!

Updated On: 11/17/17 at 09:55 AM