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Once on This Island
Long before Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty wrote Ragtime and Anastasia, they made their name with Once on This Island in 1990. The first Broadway revival opened Sunday night and Ahrens & Flaherty have to be pleased with the results.
Once on This Island unfolds as a group of storytellers—caught in the midst of an unrelenting storm—recount the tale of Ti Moune, a Caribbean island country girl in love with an aristocrat.
Director Michael Arden takes the framing device one step farther by setting the storytellers on an island left the aftermath of a devastating hurricane. (It may seem ripped from the headlines, but he started working on this concept a year ago.) “We are taking a look at disaster, like we’ve seen in Haiti, and how that can be a metaphor for how we all rebuild,” Arden has said.
Once on This Island’s score has been rebuilt by creating a new sonic palette built on multi-layered vocal orchestrations, along with instruments made out of found objects, including trash bins, flexible piping, and more. Starobin and composer Flaherty have retained segments of the score’s traditional Broadway musical pit instrumentation.
The cast of storytellers who transform into gods, peasants, and wealthy island dwellers boasts Miss Saigon Tony Award winner Lea Salonga (Erzulie, goddess of love), Glee groundbreaker Alex Newell (Asaka, mother of the earth), Merle Dandridge (Papa Ge, demon of death), and Quentin Earl Darrington (Agwe, god of water), as well as Tony nominee Phillip Boykin (Tonton Julian).
Hailey Kilgore, an 18-year-old Broadway newcomer who was a student at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy at the time of her audition, is cast in the breakout role of Ti Moune, a young peasant girl who is sent on a journey by the gods.
The reaction from the critics for this revival have been... spectacular.
All the notices are like that. Reviewers all mention both choreography by Camille A. Brown and Stephen Flaherty's music and vocal arrangements. Hailey Kilgore, Lea Salonga, Alex Newell, and Phillip Boykin were also singled out for praise. But the biggest nods were for former Broadway star and now two-time Broadway director Michael Arden. He may be the new front-runner for a best director Tony in June. And here's an interesting tidbit: Arden's assistant director is Book of Mormon and Les Miserables star Nikki M. James branching out in to a new direction herself.
For more information
What a delight it is to enter the world of Once on This Island...The hallmark ingenuity, warmth and intensity bordering on excess that characterize [director] Arden's style is recapitulated everywhere within the production, from the frankly stupendous singing... to the electric choreography... Everyone is working on the same crammed page. - Jesse Green, The New York Times
Long before Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty wrote Ragtime and Anastasia, they made their name with Once on This Island in 1990. The first Broadway revival opened Sunday night and Ahrens & Flaherty have to be pleased with the results.
Once on This Island unfolds as a group of storytellers—caught in the midst of an unrelenting storm—recount the tale of Ti Moune, a Caribbean island country girl in love with an aristocrat.
Director Michael Arden takes the framing device one step farther by setting the storytellers on an island left the aftermath of a devastating hurricane. (It may seem ripped from the headlines, but he started working on this concept a year ago.) “We are taking a look at disaster, like we’ve seen in Haiti, and how that can be a metaphor for how we all rebuild,” Arden has said.
Once on This Island’s score has been rebuilt by creating a new sonic palette built on multi-layered vocal orchestrations, along with instruments made out of found objects, including trash bins, flexible piping, and more. Starobin and composer Flaherty have retained segments of the score’s traditional Broadway musical pit instrumentation.
The cast of storytellers who transform into gods, peasants, and wealthy island dwellers boasts Miss Saigon Tony Award winner Lea Salonga (Erzulie, goddess of love), Glee groundbreaker Alex Newell (Asaka, mother of the earth), Merle Dandridge (Papa Ge, demon of death), and Quentin Earl Darrington (Agwe, god of water), as well as Tony nominee Phillip Boykin (Tonton Julian).
Hailey Kilgore, an 18-year-old Broadway newcomer who was a student at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy at the time of her audition, is cast in the breakout role of Ti Moune, a young peasant girl who is sent on a journey by the gods.
The reaction from the critics for this revival have been... spectacular.
There has probably never been a production quite like the stunning new Broadway revival at Circle in the Square. Emphasizing the musical's themes of natural disaster and economic inequality, director Michael Arden brings an unexpected dose of gritty realism, while also honoring its gorgeous score of dynamic group numbers and tender ballads. Vocal fireworks and full-bodied dance choreography imbue spirituality and joyful theatricality. - Matt Windmand, amNY
All the notices are like that. Reviewers all mention both choreography by Camille A. Brown and Stephen Flaherty's music and vocal arrangements. Hailey Kilgore, Lea Salonga, Alex Newell, and Phillip Boykin were also singled out for praise. But the biggest nods were for former Broadway star and now two-time Broadway director Michael Arden. He may be the new front-runner for a best director Tony in June. And here's an interesting tidbit: Arden's assistant director is Book of Mormon and Les Miserables star Nikki M. James branching out in to a new direction herself.
For more information
- Once On This Island Broadway Review from Double D Reviews.
- Gypsy Robe Ceremony: Once On This Island - Actor's Equity takes you backstage at Circle in the Square for the opening night gypsy robe ceremony. The Gypsy Robe goes to the chorus member with the most Broadway credits. It then brings luck to the rest of the cast.
- Stars Ask the Stars at the Opening Night of Once on This Island - Theatermania plays their game where they ask stars attending the opening to record questions that their reporters put to the cast when they arrive for the party.
- Remember Michael Arden? His last role was as the title character in Hunchback of Notre Dame. Last year he married his partner Andy Mientus. Andy played Marius opposite Nikki M. James as Eponine in the last revival of Les Miserables. So, yes, Marius and Quasimodo got married - which sounds like Victor Hugo fan fiction.
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