Jeffrey Karasarides said: "I could see this following a similar trajectory to the most recent revival ofOn the Town, where despite all the acclaim that production received, it really struggled on Broadway. While it did lose a lot of money in the end, the producers were at least willing to keep it open for as long as they could, even making it into awards season.
Though the difference here is that On the Town played in one of the largest venues on Broadway (Lyric Theatre) while Once on This Island is playing in one of the smallest venues (Circle in the Square)."
I think that the difference in venues could be key here. I loved On the Town, but it was hard to fill that theater, and it frankly got swallowed up in that space. It's also a more dated show and had a large cast. OOTI is more accessible to younger audiences, already has a built in fan base with its HS drama club popularity, and that house will fill. Not to mention, it's one of the few shows to really feature diversity, which is thankfully becoming more important to people these days.
And it's a short show, so tourists can take it in and still had time to do other things.