Once on This Island - A Caribbean Fairy Tale with An Atypical Ending

    

Company of Once on This Island Credit: kgtunney Photography

    The steel drum ensemble sounding out joyfully from the second-floor landing of the Benedum Center on opening night of the CLO’s Once on This Island is a nice introductory touch, a prescient nod to the exciting evening of entertainment yet to come.

    Amazing audiences since 1990 and earning a 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, this coming-of-age tale is a tropical feast for the eyes and ears. With themes similar to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid and maybe even a bit of West Side Story, this romantic narrative is based on a 1985 novel by Rosa Guy titled “My Love, My Love, or The Peasant Girl.”

    You’d probably never encountered such an unlikely ending for a fairy tale as you get in Once Upon an Island that takes a novel twist on the old standby “and they lived happily ever after.” Let’s keep it under wraps here so it doesn’t ruin the experience of seeing the one act show that seems to fly by with an endless flow of music by Stephen Flaherty, composer of the Broadway musical Ragtime, which earned 13 Tony Award nominations.

    For a show set in the colorful Caribbean (the CLO does a masterful job painting the stage with gorgeous pastels via some ingenious backdrop projections), the curtain rises with the onslaught of a vicious storm complete with bright flashes of lightning and booming thunder.

    Little Ti Moune (Eden S. Greene) is saved from the ensuing flooding by clinging to the trunk of a tree, then adopted by a kind hearted couple Mama Euralie (Melessie Clark) and Tonton Julian (Brady D. Patsy) who take her in and raise her.

    The scene rapidly shifts to the adult Ti Mourne, played by the ravishing Naja Hetsberger, who not only has the pipes to belt out book writer, Lynn Ahrens’ endearing lyrics, but also show off some dazzling footwork in Ti Mourne’s Dance at the aristocrats’ ball.

    Influencing, manipulating and controlling the course of events are four of the peasants’ gods, Asaka, the goddess of the Earth (Frenchie Davis), the cunningly baleful Papa Ge (Darius Harper), the gentle, sentimental Erzulie (Hailey Thomas) and the patriarchal Agwe, god of Water (Zephaniah Divine).

    From the dark-skinned peasant class that inhabit one part of the island, Ti Moune falls in love with one of the lighter skinned aristocrats, who live in gated communities on another side of the island. Erzulie wants the gods to give her love, because she feels it’s the strongest gift they can give her. Annoyed by her insistence, Papa Ge proposes a test to see which is stronger of the two - love or death.

    To get the challenge underway, the gods provide a meeting between the two star-crossed lovers when Daniel (Mason Reeves), a light-skinned aristocrat, is severely injured in an auto accident. Conveniently at the scene, Ti Moune rushes to retrieve him from the auto, tries to nurse him back to health and falls promptly in love.

To prove her robust love, she proposes to sacrifice herself to Papa Ge in exchange Daniel’s life.

Company in Once on This Island Credit: kgtunney Photography

    While the newly enraptured couple find momentary bliss, their happiness soon comes to an end when Daniel’s parents and other members of his Creole social class point out the absurdity of him marrying a peasant girl. Soon, he’s taken in by duty and his sense of social obligations and plans to marry Andrea (Siggy Bijou), his social equal in a planned nuptial arrangement in effect since their childhood.

    Naturally, Ti Moure is emotionally crushed but the gods, saddened by the turn-of-events, plan a transformative experience for the love-stricken girl that provides a unique fairy tale ending that’s really quite clever on the part of the storyteller.

    The musical closes on an uplifting ending that mollifies any residual feelings about the narrative. Director and choreographer, Gerry McIntyre leads this spectacular production with a solid, talented cast at his disposal. Costume designer, Yoon Bae, creates some gorgeous attire, especially the dazzling outfit worn by Mother Earth and, later, Ti Moune in the ball scene. Lighting designer, Paul Miller, provides intelligent touches to scenic and projection designer, Bryce Cutler's, dazzling creations.

    If you go, be prepared to be thrilled, moved emotionally and dazzled by an exemplary cast and crew for 90, non-stop minutes. The musical runs through July 30. For tickets, phone 412-456-666 or go to www.pittsburghclo.org/buy-tickets.