Once on this Island

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:05pm

Was it financially successful or a flop? If it was a flop (as I suspect), why? I LOVE the score and the story sounds unique.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:06pm

I love this show but I think it was a flop. It just doesn't really appeal to everyone.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:12pm

The concept is unique, but the story is not. It's based on The Little Mermaid.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:15pm

I'm still unclear why this show was more or less a flop.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:16pm

i think it was intended for a short run, and it wasn't a very large production to begin with. It was off-Broadway then transferred

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:21pm

Well it played a year. 469 perfs. Respectable. I am not sure if it lost money though. But I wouldn't consider it a flop at all. It's had a healthy regional life, a loyal following, and its writing team has gone on the great things.
Updated On: 7/11/05 at 08:21 PM

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:22pm

It wasn't really based on the little mermaid, it was based on a book called "My Love My Love" by Rosa Guy, I read the book and if it was written like the book, the show would be AMAZING, even better then what it is now, its proly one of my favorite shows ever. i LOVE this show. But if done well and has a big buget, it can be AMAZING, I just love it.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:23pm

The book "My Love My Love" is based on The Little Mermaid.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:26pm

i thought we just established that

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:28pm

Read the entire thread before making snarky comments and you might see what I was replying to.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:29pm

Why did it close after a year?

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:37pm

i wasn't making a "snarky" comment mind you, It was just a "matter of fact" statement not intended to be at all rude, but i apologize because i didnt read it thoroughly.

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:40pm

Oh, thanks Bobby! I didn't know that

[kas]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:42pm

OOTI is one of my all time favs. The music is great, and when we did it the costumes and lighting were amazing. i love the song "Forever Yours". I listen to it often.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:43pm

What were the other shows of that season?

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 8:47pm

Will Roger's Follies, The Secret Garden and Miss Saigon.

[Mike3]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 9:01pm

I've always had a question about this show. At what point in production did they cut "Come Down from That Tree"? I have two versions of the CD and it's not on either one. I love that song.

[shlamdiddly]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 9:39pm

GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Just seeing the name of this show makes me want to gag.

[EffieWhite]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 10:33pm

COME DOWN FROM THE TREE and WHEN DANIEL MARRIES ME were cut between the workshop and the off-Broadway opening.
OOTI did not make its money back during the Broadway run but, between tours, regional theatre, college and high school productions, certainly has turned a profit.
Rosa Guy's book IS based on THE LITTLE MERMAID.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 11:03pm

Ahh, the first show I ever played in, special place in my heart. From what I gathered, watching the '91 tonys, and just things I heard, it was kind of a more sleeper out of nowhere show then anything. I mean kind of like spelling bee but obviously not to the success it had. It was small off-broadway and found a home on broadway and lots of people went and enjoyed it, I would only consider something a flop if it did much worse than expected, I'm pretty sure that's not the case here.

To further explain the "peasant" novel and Little Mermaid connection...

Yes, OOTI was based on the novel which was based on the Little Mermaid. Keep in mind we're talking about Hans Christian Anderson's Little mermaid, not the disney version(my fav movie!!...not too relevant but anyway...). The book and the musical focused on the class differences as a previous poster said, but the difference in class between the rich and the poor, the peasants and the Beauxhomme...the source of this is the classes of humans and sea creatures. Here's some similarities:

LM: Ariel pretty much first encounters Eric by saving his life in the shipwreck and then falls in love with him.
OOTI: Ti Moune pretty much first meets Daniel by saving his life and then falls in love with him.

LM: Ariel for a time leaves her world to live in the other--becomes human and lives in the human world.
OOTI: Ti Moune for a time leaves her world to live in the other--she takes a journey to go "cure" and be with Daniel and interacts and live with the Beauxhomme

And, never having read it, I know the original LM story doesn't end happily ever after, and I think the two endings are also pretty much in sync.

[Mike3]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 11:20pm

Thanks, Effie.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 1:19am

Did Five Guys Named Moe and the other named shows really shut out Once on this Island?

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 7:38am

I watched a tape of the '91 Tonys and I'm almost positive it did. 3 of the 4 acting awards went to Miss Saigon(Lea Salonga, Jonathan Pryce and whoever played Chris) and Daisy Egan from Secret Garden took supporting. I know Will Rogers Follies won musical(really disagree). Secret Garden took book and scenic design, and I think WRF won everything else.

[WesternSky2]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 7:54am

Oh, how I love Once on This Island. We did this show with the kids at the summer camp I work at last year. It's just so much fun. I love the music.

[Hairspraydoll]

Posted: 7/12/05 at 3:07pm

I'm directing this show right now with my high school kids. I love this show!!!! The message is amazing.