Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Once On This Island

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS SHOW!!! So this is a great show written by an incredible duo who have some really innovative orchestrations, directed by a genius who has a super unique and fun vision for it, and has an all-star cast including some really cool non-traditional casting. In short, they're doing things differently, and it's great and I'm so excited.

Ok, so this performance was a bit of a surprise. In most of the other performances and clips we've seen a lot of "Mama Will Provide" and "Waiting for Life" so it's fun to see the whole ensemble featured instead of just a couple of soloists. And even though I've been following this show and soaking up every piece of information I can about this show, I still got some cool surprises from this performance.  I loved the way they did the costuming! The peasants weren't wearing rags or traditional tribal clothes as many productions do it, but wearing "homemade" costumes that were built off of what we would actually see on an island.  And then, to contrast, we saw the Grand Om (spelling?) in their pearly whites showing the contrast that's so important to this show.  I also didn't see the school children coming, but I definitely don't hate it! The show is about story telling (among other things) and usually that's interpreted by telling stories to the little girl/audience, but including other kids to be told is an exciting twist.  The song itself was alright.  I think it would be more fun to see in the space (it's meant to be performed in the Round on a stage they've filled with sand) but they did a good job with what they had and I remain more and more eager to see this gem of a show every time I learn something new about it!