“Once on This Island” is the story of a poor peasant girl who is caught in the middle of a wager between gods and falls madly in love with a rich city boy who is betrothed to someone else. Set in the French Antilles, the story’s Caribbean calypso influence is seen in the music and in the actors’ brightly colored costumes. The story of how love can overcome death and bring the different classes of the island together is filled with drama that is sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
In the Bromfield middle school performance, Kira Houston plays the role of the peasant girl Ti Moune, who falls hopelessly in love with Daniel, played by Rocco Massoni. When Ti’s parents learn that their daughter has fallen in love with a boy of a different social class, they try to break up the relationship.
A 1990s hit musical
The Bromfield Middle School Drama Club’s performances of “Once on This Island” will be held on Friday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7:p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m. in Bromfield’s Cronin Auditorium. Tickets will be sold at the door and will cost $8 for students and seniors and $12 for adults.
When “Once on This Island” was featured on Broadway in the 1990s, it received an Olivier award for best new musical and received eight Tony nominations, including best musical, book, and score. Lyrics are by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. The story includes elements of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” as it revisits the age-old tale of how love can break down barriers between two different worlds.
The director of the Bromfield production is Martha Brooks, who has been the middle school drama coach for more than 20 years and a digital arts teacher at Bromfield for about 18 years. In addition to Brooks, the production team consists of Mike Hoffman as musical director, Melissa Lynch as choreographer, and Beth Drummey as costume designer.
The show has been almost a year in the making. The production team met several times over the summer, and cast auditions were held in September. Throughout the fall, rehearsals were held twice a week for a few hours at a time; recently they’ve been increased to every day after school. Technical rehearsals start the first week in December.
In addition to the young couple in love, the cast features parents, gods and goddesses, storytellers, and a gatekeeper.
Director Martha Brooks conveys her aspirations for the play when she says, “The audience will hopefully leave with a message that the power of love ultimately defeats hate and even death.”
Front row, from left: Meili Stanten (Asaka, Mother of Earth), Colleen Makosky (storyteller), Briana Clemons (storyteller), Cierra Wilkins (storyteller), Addison LeBlanc (Armand), Gwyneth Smedley (Erzulie, Goddess of Love). Back row, stage: Rachel Molnar (storyteller), Phoebe Clark (storyteller), Dallas Briggs-Adams (Papa Ge, God of Death), Nicole Lambert (storyteller), Katherine Prouty (storyteller). On platform: Riley Neville (Agwe, Goddess of Water).Kneeling, from left: Claire Stoddard (Little Ti Moune), Ethan Manning (Tonton Julian). Not pictured: Madeline Gamelin (Mama Ewalie), Shreya Kumar (Madam Armand), and Wesley Donahue (gatekeeper). (Courtesy photo)
