Whitney K.
Yelp
I saw Buttcracker here in December. The breakdown of my experience:
Tickets: Purchased online. Easy-peasy. A little pricey, but that seems to be the trend in this area for community theatre, and I'll happily pay for quality art and entertainment. Support the local arts!!
Arrival: It was COLD outside, and I arrived a bit early because I had seen on facebook that the event was sold out, and I wanted good seats. They had someone directing patrons to their seats, which I guess is better than open seating for getting that many people in a tight space without wasted seats, but it was SLOOOOW going, and I did NOT enjoy my time in the cold outside waiting for the line to move! Still, not a deterring factor--just something I'd like to see streamlined a little more in the future.
Staff: The folks working here were FABULOUS. Ticket-takers, handing out programs, greeting and directing us to seats... All wonderful! So many smiling, welcoming faces. Almost made me forget about the long wait outside.
Seating: OUCH! No, literally--OUCH! They have a great, unique approach to seating, offering clean, modern-looking couches instead of hard chairs or standard auditorium fare. I was looking forward to that. However, they apparently calculate seating assuming four people to a couch, and that is NOT realistic! Three people, absolutely, but four is more than a stretch. I was physically in pain for the entire performance. Maybe they oversold tickets and were trying to accommodate everybody who wanted to see the show before it closed, but they sacrificed the comfort of those who purchased tickets in advance and came with larger groups to accommodate those who missed the deadline. Tricky line to walk, and I was on the lousy end of it.
Performance: Hmmm... I don't want to badmouth an original production that clearly took a lot of time, energy, and LOVE to put on, but I didn't love watching it. The choreography was fun, the music was from the Nutcracker ballet and not to be poo-pooed, but the sound quality through the speakers was painful at times, and the voice-over was very inconsistent in terms of volume (sometimes ear-piercingly loud, sometimes almost impossible to hear). The lighting was good, the set was effective, the performers were clearly having a great time... I guess that's it. The PERFORMERS were having a great time. I wasn't. I felt like I had just paid a pretty penny to watch people goof around with their friends on stage. It reminded me of neighborhood kids getting together to put on a skit for their neighbors. The concept was cute--zombies! Who doesn't love that?!? And adding humor to what I find a long and dull ballet to watch year after year was a stroke of brilliance! Just... It wasn't very polished. Dancers were not in sync, actors were giggling and laughing and breaking character...
HOWEVER!! I seemed to be the ONLY person in the audience having this sort of reaction! That is IMPORTANT--if ONE person out of an overcrowded house isn't loving it but thinks it's cute and EVERYONE ELSE is rolling with laughter... Well, I'm thinking this just wasn't the show for me.
I look forward to seeing more productions here. I've seen several of their stock actors performing elsewhere, and I know them to be very gifted. I hear wonderful things about this company, and the venue and people are fantastic! Maybe I'll just stick with something a little less "original" next time?