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Mar. 16th, 2008 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leia131So now that I have see Once on This Island twice, I can post some thoughts about it.
I liked and disliked a lot of little things about it, but overall I enjoyed watching it, and it was very well done.
-The biggest thing I have to say is that in a show like this, you have to have a strong ensemble, and Castleton did. Their singing was amazing, their dancing was spot on, they were committed to their movements, and they believed what they were saying. Seriously, the biggest problem I have with a lot of plays I see is that the actors aren't committed, they're acting the way they are because it's what they've been told to do, not because it's what the character would do. Castleton doesn't have that problem.
-When the ensemble was just standing around watching, they were still committed, and fully engaged. No one was zoned out, or looked bored to be there but not talking. It was awesome.
-In fact, they were all so committed that it took me till Act 2 to realize there wasn't really a set, and until the second night I saw it to realize there weren't really any props either. That takes devotion.
-I thought Daniel was mediocre. And I didn't like how "Some Girls" was sung to Ti Moune. She should not have been onstage for that song, or at least not for the end of it.
-I really liked the use of the scrim and the solid lighting behind it. And how Daniel was behind it during "Forever Yours." That was staged really well.
-The Gods' costumes were AMAZING. Let me just come right out and say it. I think Agwe's (sp?) was the best, but I really liked how Asaka's wasn't fully green. It was mostly orange and tan, with green accents, and that was cool.
-Ti Moune's singing was very very good.
-Erzuli (sp?) was a good singer, but she seriously needed to vary her hand motions more.
-Papa Ge was very good, but I had Billy's creepy crawling across the stage and terrifying laugh in my head, and well, he was much scarier. Dave could sing way better, but Billy was far more terrifying. I was actually scared of Billy when I saw it.
-I would have liked the Gods to have been on stage more often. I felt like they could have been in the background watching a lot of the scenes, and it would have added another layer.
-I didn't know my Heather could sing that low, and it was SO GOOD.
-The way Janeea said "the French" was kind of the best part of the play.
-Ti Moune's dance wasn't grand enough. It really needed to blow me away, and it didn't. It needed some kind of big finale move.
-Andrea was fabulous. She was a good singer and a good actress, and I really enjoyed watching her, even though I don't so much enjoy that character.
-I didn't like how Ti Moune didn't have the charm on her the whole play, but once she had to give it to Daniel it magically appeared around her neck.
-I liked how they had an actual young girl, though I had trouble hearing her a lot of the time.
-I still almost cried at the end. I really like this show.
-They managed to do the part where she gets turned into a tree without it being any cheesier than it implicitly is.
-The last song was perfect, and I really liked the tree on the scrim. Oh, and the stars that were on the scrim earlier. In fact, the lights were quite good overall.
-When the ensemble was just standing around watching, they were still committed, and fully engaged. No one was zoned out, or looked bored to be there but not talking. It was awesome.
-In fact, they were all so committed that it took me till Act 2 to realize there wasn't really a set, and until the second night I saw it to realize there weren't really any props either. That takes devotion.
-I thought Daniel was mediocre. And I didn't like how "Some Girls" was sung to Ti Moune. She should not have been onstage for that song, or at least not for the end of it.
-I really liked the use of the scrim and the solid lighting behind it. And how Daniel was behind it during "Forever Yours." That was staged really well.
-The Gods' costumes were AMAZING. Let me just come right out and say it. I think Agwe's (sp?) was the best, but I really liked how Asaka's wasn't fully green. It was mostly orange and tan, with green accents, and that was cool.
-Ti Moune's singing was very very good.
-Erzuli (sp?) was a good singer, but she seriously needed to vary her hand motions more.
-Papa Ge was very good, but I had Billy's creepy crawling across the stage and terrifying laugh in my head, and well, he was much scarier. Dave could sing way better, but Billy was far more terrifying. I was actually scared of Billy when I saw it.
-I would have liked the Gods to have been on stage more often. I felt like they could have been in the background watching a lot of the scenes, and it would have added another layer.
-I didn't know my Heather could sing that low, and it was SO GOOD.
-The way Janeea said "the French" was kind of the best part of the play.
-Ti Moune's dance wasn't grand enough. It really needed to blow me away, and it didn't. It needed some kind of big finale move.
-Andrea was fabulous. She was a good singer and a good actress, and I really enjoyed watching her, even though I don't so much enjoy that character.
-I didn't like how Ti Moune didn't have the charm on her the whole play, but once she had to give it to Daniel it magically appeared around her neck.
-I liked how they had an actual young girl, though I had trouble hearing her a lot of the time.
-I still almost cried at the end. I really like this show.
-They managed to do the part where she gets turned into a tree without it being any cheesier than it implicitly is.
-The last song was perfect, and I really liked the tree on the scrim. Oh, and the stars that were on the scrim earlier. In fact, the lights were quite good overall.
As per usual, the preceeding was only my opinions, not solid facts, and your mileage may vary.
