Welcoming you in like an island breeze, the Tony award-winning musical Once on This Island will delight audiences in February.
Although the show may not have name recognition that sparks interest, when one dives a bit deeper the tale will sweep you away in familiarity and heart!
Based on a book with ties to Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Mermaid, Once on This Island is an immersive experience using real fire, water, sand and soul.
Based on the book by Rosa Guy
Once on This Island is based on the 1985 book My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, which is set in the Caribbean and is the retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. Both are stories of a young girl who falls in love with a boy outside of her station in life. In My Love, My Love the boundary is socio-economical and in The Little Mermaid the boundary is land and sea. There have been connections made to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as well, which again tells the story of a young couple whose families oppose their love and try to keep them apart.
The Musical
The first Broadway revival of Once on This Island, produced by Ken Davenport, directed by Michael Arden and choreographed by Camille A. Brown, began previews on November 9, 2017 and officially opened on December 3 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. This production featured a stage covered in sand, with live animals onstage, and set and costume design intended to suggest a wrecked beach community recovering from a hurricane. The revival closed on January 6, 2019, after 458 regular performances.
The musical is touring North America and opened on October 15, 2019, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, Tennessee. The tour is directed by Michael Arden with choreography by Camille A. Brown. The tour will feature onstage seating, "creating a unique experience within the footprint of every theater we play... Audiences will be invited to put their feet in the sand and surround our company, becoming part of the show."
Characters
Ti Moune - A peasant girl.
Little Ti Moune - Ti Moune as a child.
Daniel Beauxhomme - A grand homme (French for "upper class"); Ti Moune's love interest; Beauxhomme is French for "beautiful man"
Papa Ge - The sly Demon of Death who is the main antagonist of the show. He tricks the main character into giving her life for another. He is seen as a skeleton and is very sneaky. The people on the island fear him because of what he represents: the unknown that is death.
Erzulie - Beautiful Goddess of Love; the foil to Papa Ge
Agwe - God of Water
Asaka - Mother of the Earth
Mama Euralie - Ti Moune's adoptive mother
Tonton Julian - Ti Moune's adoptive father
Andrea Deveraux - Daniel's promised wife; also "Madame Armand"
Armand Beauxhomme - Daniel's stern father.
"Armand" - The ancestor of Armand Beauxhomme.
Gatekeeper - The Hotel Beauxhomme's fierce guard
The Little Girl - A young girl who is told the story of Ti Moune.
Daniel's Son - Daniel's young son
Storytellers/Gossips - Various Grands Hommes and peasants
Once on this Island
DATES: Feb. 11-16
Winner of the 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, Once on This Island is the sweeping, universal tale of Ti Moune, a fearless peasant girl in search of her place in the world, and ready to risk it all for love.