Once on This Island

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Once on This Island is a musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty.

Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, it is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid set in the French Antilles. The musical can also be considered an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

Originally staged at off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele and starring LaChanze as Ti Moune, opened on October 18, 1990 at the Booth Theatre, where it ran for 469 performances. In 2002, the original cast was reunited with special guest Lillias White to perform the show for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund.

1 Plot
2 Characters
3 Musical Numbers List
4 Awards and Nominations
5 External links

[edit] Plot

Set in the French Antilles, a diminutive island in the Caribbean, Once on This Island begins with a group of peasants comforting a young girl who is upset during a storm. To distract her, they tell her about the community and how they hand down tales from one generation to the next: "We dance/What else is there to do?/But bear the child and bear the load and bear the pain...Our hearts hear a song/Our feet move along." Meanwhile on the other side of the island, the lighter-skinned aristocrats live "behind high walls and iron gates." These people, the Grande Hommes, are descendants of the original French planters and their slaves. "How fine their clothes are/How fast they drive/They dance at parties/while we are dancing just to stay alive!" ("We Dance")

The peasants introduce a young girl, Ti Moune. While she is still a toddler, the four gods of the Island (Asaka, Mother of the Earth; Agwe, God of Water; Erzulie, Goddess of Love, and Papa Ge, Demon of Death) visit a terrible storm upon the island and save her life by hiding her in a tree. She is found and subsequently adopted by the peasants Mama Euralie and Tonton Julian ("One Small Girl"). As Ti Moune grows up, she expresses a desire to know why the Gods have saved her since they spared her life from the storm ("Waiting For Life"). The Gods hear her prayer, and Erzulie and Papa Ge decide on a bet to prove which is stronger--the power of love, or death. Agwe arranges for car of Daniel Beauxhomme, a young Grande Homme, to crash during a storm so that Ti Moune may nurse him back to health ("And The Gods Heard Her Prayer / Rain"). Despite the objections of the other villagers, Ti Moune slowly nurses Daniel back to health ("Pray"). As planned, the two young people fall in love. When Papa Ge comes to claim Daniel's life, Ti Moune offers hers for his ("Forever Yours"). Frustrated at being denied his claim, Papa Ge leaves, hinting he will return.

The peasants take a break from the action to tell the story of the people of the island. It is revealed that the Beauxhommes are decended from a rich French colonist named Armand, who had an illegitimate child with a local villager. He named the child Beauxhommes, in reference to the beautiful color of his skin, the color of "coffee with cream". However, in a revolt, the boy rose up with the locals against his father and exiled Armand. However, before leaving, Armand cursed his son and his son's decendants, vowing that their skin color would forever keep them on the island, while they would always yearn to live in France. It is for that reason that the Beauxhommes despise the islanders, as their dark skin remind them of their own lineage. ("The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes")

Tonton goes on a difficult journey to seek Daniel's family at the Hotel Beauxhomme on the other side of the island; subsequently Daniel's people come to Ti Moune's home and take the boy back to his world. After she insists on pursuing Daniel, her parents sadly let her go ("Ti Moune"). As she travels, she encounters Asaka, Goddess of the Earth. Asaka tells her not to fear on her journey, as the earth will give her everything she needs ("Mama Will Provide"). When she reaches the city, the workers and townspeople comment on what she must have experienced to make it that far ("Some Say"). Ti Moune comes to Daniel's bedside, where he is still sick. As she lies with him, Erzulie sings over them ("The Human Heart"). As they fall in love, the townspeople gossip over the unlikely relationship of a rich Beauxhomme and a poor peasant girl ("Pray (Reprise)"). Daniel ignores the gossip and disapproval their relationship engenders, and sings about how Ti Moune is different from other girls ("Some Girls").

At a formal ball at the Hotel, Ti Moune learns Daniel is engaged to be married to Andrea Deveraux, the daughter of family friends ("The Ball"). She is heartbroken, even though Daniel tells her "we can still be together...I can't change who I am." ("When We Are Wed"). During her anguish, Papa Ge reappears and reminds Ti Moune of her promise to exchange her life for Daniel's--he says she can revoke the bargain, and encourages her to allow Daniel to be killed, as he has killed their love. Though heartbroken, Ti Moune refuses, proving that love is indeed stronger than death. ("Forever Yours (Reprise)). Ti Moune is thrown out of the Hotel, and waits hopelessly for Daniel at the gate, as Daniel and Andrea are married. Following a tradition of throwing coins at the peasants outside the hotel gates, Daniel places money in Ti Moune's hand. She dies, and the Gods mourn her loss ("A Part Of Us").

However, Asaka allows her to be reincarnated as a tree that cracks open the gates of the hotel, through which her legacy survives to bring together a peasant girl and young Grande Homme as they play in her branches. In the final number, the cast breaks the fourth wall and explains to the audience why they tell the story of Ti Moune and the triumph of love ("Why We Tell The Story").

This play is sometimes performed in school, where it is known as Once On This Island Jr. Some content is usually changed to be more suitable for a younger audience. One change is that Ti Moune simply turns into a tree, instead of dying. Also important to note is the words are sometimes made shorter to make the musical shorter. Also, it isn't all black, and references to race are taken out.

[edit] Characters

Agwe - God of Water
Andrea - Daniel's Promised Wife
Armand - Ancestor of Daniel
Asaka - Mother of Earth
Beauxhomme - Illegitimate Son of Armand
Daniel - Male Lead, In Love With Ti Moune
Erzulie - Beautiful Goddess of Love
Little Ti Moune - Young Version of Ti Moune
Madame Armand - Wife of Armand
Mama Euralie - Adopted Mother of Ti Moune
Papa Ge - Sly Demon of Death
Ti Moune - Female Lead, In Love With Daniel
Tonton Julian - Adopted Father of Ti Moune
Daniel's Father - Tells Daniel he must not follow his heart, but do what must be done.
Daniel's Son - He falls in love with a peasant girl near the end, where people tell the story of Ti Moune.
Gatekeeper - Guards the Hotel Beauxhomme.
Gossipers 1-6 - Grand Homme who talk about Ti Moune behind her back.
Storytellers 1-4 - They tell the story of Ti Moune.
Chorus - Mostly villagers, less Grand Homme.