ONCE ON THIS ISLAND: Review (spoilers)

Posted: 11/21/17 at 12:25am

I have to admit when I heard Ahrens and Flaherty's Once On This Island was coming back to the boards this season I thought to myself...this is a cute show with a BEAUTIFUL score, but the story just doesn't have the excitement or dramatic heft that it had in 1990s, especially after seeing the 2012 Papermill Playhouse production directed by Thomas Kail that played more like children's theater than Broadway theater. After seeing a preview performance tonight at the Circle in Squre, I could not have been more wrong.

Sometimes all it takes is a really smart creative team with a fresh take on storytelling to bring a show back to life and that is what director Michael Arden has lead the way with here. I know many people were on the fence about his Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening a few years back, but his OOTI proves he is one of this seasons best musical directors.  What he's done that Mr. Kail didn't do is strip all the sentimentality out of the framing device of which the story is told. This Island is not the bright tropical paradise of the 1990's staging, but the beach of a Haitian Ghetto after a devastating hurricane. And the audience is so immersed in it that the first row gets to plant their feet firmly on the same sand.

As you walk into the theater Dane Laffrey's transporting set makes you feel like you have made trip to Hatti in order to volunteer with the relief. Trash and scattered objects are half buried all over the beach, there is even the back end of a large cargo truck tipped on its side in which the orchestra plays on top of.  One of the main entrances is a flood zone in which actors who exit out it have to tread through almost two feet of water. It is sometimes terrifying and other times beautiful because of the reflection the lighting Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer creates and the poetic nature of Arden's staging. The actors set the realistic scene 15 mins before the show starts by hocking items, cooking things on a make shift camp kitchen for the survivors on a real hot plate, one actor even leads a live goat across the stage like he's taking it to market to be slaughtered...the effect is startling. This is very real place that we have seen in devastation too much on the news of late. Clint Ramos has done a fantastic job making the costumes feel modern/theatrical/ephemeral like you would see out of stunning, vivid, photo you'd see in National Geographic.

The orchestrations by Annmarie Milazzo & the legendary Michael Starobin have been smartly paired down to be less magical fairy tale and more right to the real emotional center...its exciting to hear.

The cast is uniformly great. Kenita Miller (one of the best things to happen to bway in a long time) is the perfect Mama Euralie...loving yet scared for her daughter. Lea Salonga as Erzulie is a mysterious and beautiful goddess and IS STILL in full gorgeous voice (one of the best bway singers of all time). Hailey Kilgore as Ti Moune is wonderful in her bway debut, perfect for the role,  great voice/actress although not a star turn like it was for LaChanze.  Merle Dandridge as Pappa Ge is seriously convincing evil spirit. But Alex Newell as the goddess Asaka steals the show with his show stopping soulful performance of Mamma Will Provide...a turn that was uncertain would work with 100% effectiveness in fresh characterization, bravo!

The choreography by Camille A. Brown also cuts cuteness or sentimentality by making the movement feel very much like real people dancing, not overly polished or slick.  The dance at the palace where Ti Moune shows the royals and elites her evocative tribal caribean dance moves is as exciting as it could possibly be.  The audience stops to applause after it's done.

But it really is Michael Arden's fresh theatrical staging that turns this light weight story into thrilling drama. His use of an 8 year old girl to play young Ti Moune who often times shadows older Ti Moune in certain moments....inspired, giving the material new layers. A tension filled voodoo moment between Pappa Ge and Ti Moune is an incredibly interesting idea when it comes to deciding if Daniel (a fresh faced Issac Powell) should live. The sand clearing away for a royal looking rug and then marble ballroom floor are just the kind of surprises that keep this the best production of Once On This Island I've ever seen....the ending where Ti Moune turns into a tree has never been staged more effectively.  GO SEE IT RIGHT NOW!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updated On: 11/21/17 at 12:25 AM

[ellbellthomps]

Posted: 11/21/17 at 9:49am

I am going in 2 weeks and so excited! Do you think that front row gets wet from the rain? And does the entire front row have sand at their feet? 

Posted: 11/21/17 at 11:22am

No you won’t get wet. And yes the entire front row is on sand. It’s great you will love it

[OlliesDad]

Posted: 11/21/17 at 12:23pm

Saw this on Saturday and really loved it. Cannot praise the performances enough. I do have a spoilerly question.....

 

 

 

 

 

when Daniel is sick and under the blanket....how does Papa Ge take his place? My attention was elsewhere so I was really shocked when he showed up under the lights and Papa Ge was under the blanket. Very smooth trick. Did anyone else catch it?

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 11/21/17 at 1:08pm

 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

How they did the Daniel under the blanket trick?  It's likely a simplified version of Houdini's Metamorphosis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYTaQ5grUo4

If so, like any illusion, you'll be happier not knowing how it's done.  Each time you learn the secret to a magic trick, you lose a little bit of wonder from life.