Once on This Island revival.

[westycenterstagejack]

Posted: 4/17/10 at 12:55am

Didn't a revival of the show recently hit the West End? I wouldn't mind if it made a transfer to Broadway, I'd like to see it.

[NeoNormal]

Posted: 4/17/10 at 12:56am

According to OOTI's wiki it was in Birmingham Rep, Nottingham Playhouse. But agreed, I <3 that show.

[westycenterstagejack]

Posted: 4/17/10 at 12:57am

Oh, I didn't even read about that. But yeah. Regardless of the RIDICULOUS ending, it is a brilliantly gorgeous show.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 4/17/10 at 8:07am

As soon as I read the thread title, I said, "Yes please."

And that should have made Ti Moune a god instead of a tree.

[defygravity24]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 9:46pm

YESS!!!!! we need a revival!!!!! This show is amazing!!! I'm in it right now and our last show is on tuesday! and about the ending, although it is stupid, it really ties the whole theme of the story together. The whole theme of the show is that you have to be strong like a tree, and Ti Moune was strong like a tree.

[defygravity24]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 9:46pm

sorry double post
Updated On: 5/17/10 at 09:46 PM

[mallardo]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 11:43am

The ending is an echo of the Greek legend of Daphne who is also turned into a tree. As the stories are somewhat similar I'm sure this is the point.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 11:52am

The ending always was problematic. The original source material had Ti Moune's body being chucked into a ditch. Talk about a downer ending!

[singtopher]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 11:54am

Once on this Island is a wonderful show. A production at Circle in the Square would be fabulous.

And the story is based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid. If I'm not mistaken, in that story she turns into Sea foam.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 12:07pm

"And the story is based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid."

No, actually it's based on Rosa Guy's "My Love, My Love."

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/18/10 at 1:14pm

And wasn't My Love, My Love an adaptation of The Little Mermaid? It seems they wanted a more uplifting ending to My Love, My Love by way of The Little Mermaid, which makes sense. And the tree business begins with Ti Moune's arrival on the island after the storm and she is discovered, so it comes full circle. It didn't bother me in the least and I thought the imagery was quite lovely. I would gladly welcome a revival as long as it wasn't too heavily conceptualized. There was a recent production in Chicago that received decent reviews, but it was entirely set in Washington Heights with the story being told by the neighborhood residents. I didn't see it because I just didn't see the point of avoiding the beautiful visual reference already provided by the material itself. I get that they wanted to try something new but...why? Had Washington Heights and its residents visually transformed into the Caribbean as a bookend to the storytelling framework of the book, I could be on board with that, but the Caribbean aspect of the show never ventured father than the text and score.

[westycenterstagejack]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 6:02pm

I'm bumping this because I still love the idea. It never really got the acclaim I feel it deserved, and if it got the right director behind it (Julie Taymor, perhaps?) it could grow into something even more beautiful.

Its been twenty years since the original production. I think its time. Its become one of the Ahrens and Flaherty's most well loved musicals. I think it would be outstanding on Broadway. It could be a bit of a rejuvination on a somewhat dead season.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 6:21pm

Eh...I like the score, but I think the show is terribly weak. The right casting and direction though could make it worth reviving.

[sparrman]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 8:49am

It already had the right director in Graciela Daniele. That production was complete perfection.

The tree ending was sort of a laugh/cry moment, but by that point if they'd turned her into a Winnebago, I would have gone with it.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 10:52am

"It already had the right director in Graciela Daniele. That production was complete perfection."

Yes, the original Broadway production was indeed perfection. What made it so beautiful was that it was so simple. In some regards, it was like The Fantasticks in that its focus was good storytelling. Everything in Once On This Island was a servant to the story. There were no huge stars, there was no huge set, there was nothing to get in the way of the story.

[sparrman]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 11:01am

Exactly. The Fantasticks comparison is very apt. Once On This Island was the most pure, uncompromised work of art I've ever experienced on Broadway. It felt somehow like a "fluke" that it had landed there. A truly transformative experience.


Updated On: 6/25/10 at 11:01 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 1:14pm

I loved how the set transformed simply by effective lighting and the repositioning of a piece of fabric. It was a magical show that deserves a return, but it truly needs to be kept minimal.

[defygravity24]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 2:22pm

yah this has to come back to broadway! wasn't Ann Harada and others in some recent production of it?

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 3:23pm

^ OH yeah.. and Telly Leung played Daniel. I think it was supposed to be the all Asian cast.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 6/25/10 at 7:11pm

"My Love, My Love" is based on The Little Mermaid. It's a beautiful book, I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Once on This Island.

I would adore a revival of this show.