Once on This Island

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Once on This Island

Posted: 10/19/06 at 2:58am

I know this is probably a repeat, but it's late and I don't feel like wading through past threads. Sorry, :).

Anyway, I'm suffering through insomnia right now browsing the site that shall not be named, and I decide to why not check out videos for the Tony nominees of 1991. I mean, why not? I was surprised they actually had videos for all of the nominated shows (Will Rogers Follies, The Secret Garden, Miss Saigon, and Once on This Island) and so I was watching them. I had no prior knowledge of Once on This Island, and I was blown away by that Tony performance. Wow.

Can someone tell me more about the show and the creative team (I know they also did Ragtime) behind it? Also, I noticed Lillias White isn't a part of the original Broadway cast, but she performed as Asaka, the Earth Mother. I was wondering how soon did Kecia Lewis-Evans leave before Lillias White got to take over.

"I've got to get me out of here This place is full of dirty old men And the navigators and their mappy maps And moldy heads and pissing on sugar cubes While you stare at your books."

re: Once on This Island

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:06am

The show was based on the Little Mermaid. The two worlds were, as you saw in the performance, the peasants and the Grandhommes. (sp?) The Gods made a sort of bet to see if love can survive even in the face of death. Like Mermaid, they created a rain storm and Ti Moune saved Daniel's life, but there's another woman, etc. I don't want to give too much away.

This was one of Ahrens and Flaherty's earlier work. It was a surprise sleeper of the season I believe. In addition to Ragtime they've written Dessa Rose, Seussical and countless other shows. Graciela Danielle who choreographed has directed a lot of their shows.

It was the first show I ever played in the pit for. I love it.

"If there was a Mount Rushmore for Broadway scores, "West Side Story" would be front and center. It snaps, it crackles it pops! It surges with a roar, its energy and sheer life undiminished by the years" - NYPost reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli

re: Once on This Island

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:07am

Well, it's based on "My Love, My Love".

"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy." -Charlie Manson

re: Once on This Island

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:51am

It was a simple, yet very imaginative show. The Tony Award clip doesn't do justice to how good the show was. It was based on Rosa Guy's novel "My Love, My Love".

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

Jerry Dixon

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:14am

Anything with Jerry Dixon in it has to be great!

Kalamazoo Central HS gave NYC Jerry Dixon and Derek Jeter. What did Kazoo get in return?

Lillias White

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:20am

I don't know the exact date, but at http://www.ahrensandflaherty.com/ooti.html, it only says that Lillias played the role for most of its Broadway run. If I find the date, I'll post.

"I hope you're all happy, keeping Alan off the team. Couldn't you, for once, open your minds and hearts and hear something that he couldn't see? I, for one, am glad that Alan is blind, so he can't see what, I am so sad to say, you can't hear." -Jerri Blank

Lillias White

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:50am

I, personally, hate Once On This Island, yet I love Ragtime. It continues to amaze me that both these musicals came out of the same people.

Theatre is a safe place to do the unsafe things that need to be done. -John Patrick Shanley

Lillias White

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:54am

Well if you want to be technical Munk, it was based on My Love, My Love, which in turn was based on The Little Mermaid :-P

Lillias White

Posted: 10/19/06 at 1:07pm

One of my all-time favorite shows and scores. Even the cut songs that have been recorded ("When Daniel Marries Me" and "Come Down from That Three") are gorgeous.

#10

Lillias White

Posted: 10/19/06 at 1:11pm

Unfortunately, many will only be exposed to all-white high school productions.

#11

Lillias White

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:31pm

How true, Jon. I've done this show three times. Twice I was in the pit...

...and once I was Daniel.

Suzanne: I never use catalogs. I'd rather go in the store and see all the salespeople groveling and sucking up to you. Julia: Pardon me, I never knew they were so solicitous at the K-Mart.

#12

Lillias White

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:34pm

The music is amazing. The show itself is not my favorite. My school butchered it.

#13

OOTI

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:41pm

I personally don't think that it is a terrible thing that people will be exposed to "all white" productions. Sure ideally I would want everyone to see the show the way in which it was meant to be seen, and because of the location in which it takes place and the culture that is embodied in the work , that is to say with a black cast. However I would much rather people see a "white" production of Once on this Island than not see the show at all.

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