Other World at the Delaware Theater Company

[dangeresque49]

Posted: 3/20/22 at 2:00am

I had the great pleasure of seeing this tonight. 

The art direction come with the help of WETA Digital (known for lord of the rings) and it shows. This had a decent amount of broadway level talent attached to it for such a regional theater. It seems very apparent that whoever is funding this sees the production destined to bigger things. Tickets were on average about $50 and the advertising for this in the Delaware/philly region was significant for around a 300 seat theater. 

The premise of this show is that the main characters get sucked into the real version of a video game world and have to find their way out by working together. The story is strong here and flows well. This could have been cheesy and cheap to poke fun at gamer culture but the creative team really did a good job of utilizing gaming as a way the characters make an emotional connection to each other and the audience. 

Another standout of this production is the diversity of the cast. The backdrop of everyone connecting through a game makes it really natural that we would see all sorts of different people interact with each other without anything feeling forced. Multiple ethnicities, trans, gay, disabilities, and ages were represented and it felt natural. I think this would be a huge asset for a more significant run on tour because the show is so accessible diverse talent and audiences. 

I thought the music may have been weak at times but it's a bit hard to tell because most people go into big name shows hearing some of the songs and its been a while since I went into a show cold. I would say at a minimum the music is good enough and the strengths of the show otherwise are the real draw. 

The other thing I wanted to mention about this production is some of the closer seats were actually cheaper than the rear of the theater. This was such a large production a lot of the action took place on the outer circle of the double turntable where I assume the pit would be in smaller shows. In a larger theater where they could put everything behind a traditional stage front I think this would scale even better. 

I am surprised I didn't find much about this given the audience response and talent level. This show is a real winner. 

Updated On: 3/20/22 at 02:00 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/20/22 at 2:03am

I got to witness a developmental lab of this show back in 2019, and I can’t believe this is finally coming to fruition! Congrats to all involved (especially Jeff and Hunter).

[dangeresque49]

Posted: 3/20/22 at 2:15am

EDSOSLO858 said: "I got to witness a developmental lab of this show back in 2019, and I can’t believe this is finally coming to fruition! Congrats to all involved (especially Jeff and Hunter)."

I read it was slated to premier in another theater in pa and covid came in and ruined those plans after years of development. I do hope you had the chance to see the final production. There was not a ton of dead weight here in the story or flow that I would usually associate with other new musicals. The audience reaction that I saw was people wanted to tell other people to see it. That is the best reaction a production can have,