Once on This Island (2017)

I’m still catching up on the TV I missed during my super-quick New York trip, which means the usual News Satire Roundup isn’t ready to go yet (I’m shooting for posting it tomorrow.)  Luckily, I have in its place a write-up on the other, non-Boys-in-the-Band show I saw while I was there, a revival of Ahrens and Flaherty’s Once on This Island.  I’d discovered after I booked my trip that I’d be seeing it the day after Lea Salonga left the show and had prepared myself accordingly.  There were also a couple of understudies on the night I saw it, but that was no knock against it at all.  On the whole, a really gorgeous production.

On an island in the French Antilles, we’re told of the divide between the Black peasants and the light-skinned grand homme, mixed descendants of peasants and French colonizers.  The two groups live entirely separate lives, but one day, a young peasant woman called Ti Moune challenges that – and the gods themselves – when she falls in love with a grand homme.

I’ll start by saying that, while Ahrens and Flaherty’s score is wonderful, the story definitely has its problems.  Based on a book, I’ve heard it described as an island reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s original Little Mermaid, with colorism instead of mermaids.  I don’t think I’d go so far as to say that the story itself is racist, but it’s certainly disappointing in places, especially the ending (I walked out of the theatre beside a couple who’d been unfamiliar with the show and were a little taken aback by it.)

All that said, I do love the music – beautiful enough to make me tear up multiple times – and the journey the show takes getting to that unfortunate ending.  And truth be told, this production is exquisite.  Performed in the round, the stage is transformed into our island, complete with sand, rain, a felled “tree” laying across a few of the seats, and (as I’ve said before) live animals.  The peasants are also the storytellers, and those playing the peasants’ gods put together their costumes as they go from whatever’s on hand.  With inventive staging and exuberant choreography, my eyes were glued to the stage the whole time.  (Note:  one negative I’ll mention is that the sound wasn’t mixed all that well, especially since the actors sometimes move into the aisles during songs.  There were points when I couldn’t hear the main melody over the actor singing a descant a few rows away.)

The entire cast is very good, with incredible energy and powerful voices.  If I single out too many of them, I won’t stop, but I will applaud the four actors playing the gods.  Alex Newell (formerly Unique on Glee) is a hugely-entertaining Asaka, Quentin Earl Darrington has a great presence as Agwe, Darlesia Cearcy (who replaced Lea Salonga) is very sweet as Erzulie, and Merle Dandridge is effectively menacing as Papa Ge.

I mentioned that there were a couple of understudies on, including the actress playing Ti Moune!  Courtnee Carter was filling in for Hailey Kilgore, and I thought she was fantastic in the lead role.  An excellent voice, lovely acting, and great dancing – I was thoroughly impressed with her and hope she gets an opportunity to take over the role when Kilgore leaves the show.

Warnings

Brief violence, sexual content/references, drinking, and strong thematic elements.