ONCE ON THIS ISLAND

'''Once on This Island''' is a one-act 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, the musical is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's ''The Little Mermaid'' set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The show also includes elements of the ''Romeo and Juliet'' story.
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.

Contents

Synopsis

Characters

Musical numbers

Once On This Island: The Movie

Cast

Musical numbers in movie

Track listing

Awards and Nominations

References

External links

Synopsis

On one stormy night, thunder booms, making a small girl cry. As she sobs, four storytellers decide to comfort her by telling her a story, the story of Ti Moune.
In this story, four Gods (Asaka, Mother of the Earth; Agwe, God of Water; Erzulie, Goddess of Love; and Papa Ge, Demon of Death) rule an island in the Antilles (Prologue/We Dance). One day, Agwe causes a terrible storm upon the island, which in turn causes a terrible flood, wiping out a village. However, the Gods save the life of little Ti Moune, an orphan, by placing her in a tree, above the flood's waves. She is found and subsequently adopted by the peasants Mama Euralie and Tonton Julian ("One Small Girl"). The peasants live on one side of the island, and the Grandes Hommes, lighter-skinned descendants of the original French planters and their slaves, live on the other.
Years later, Ti Moune, grown up, prays to the Gods to let her meet the grand hommes ("Waiting for Life"). Hearing her plea, Erzulie and Papa Ge decide on a bet to prove which is stronger: the power of love, or the power of death. Agwe arranges for the 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 helps the intruder to recover ("Pray"). As destined, the two young people fall in love. When Papa Ge comes to claim Daniel's life, Ti Moune offers her life in exchange for his ("Forever Yours"). Papa Ge accepts and leaves, hinting he will return.
Tonton travels to the other side of the Island to seek Daniel's family at the Hotel Beauxhomme. When Tonton returns from the land of the Grandes Homme, he brings with him the story of Daniel's ancestors ("The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes") as well as Daniel's people to take the boy back. Ti Moune is tearfully separated from Daniel and tells her parents that she will go after him. Ti Moune's parents reluctantly let her go ("Ti Moune"). During her travels, she encounters the goddess Asaka, who tells her not to fear, as the Earth will give her everything she needs on her journey ("Mama Will Provide"). When she reaches the city, gossips comment on the kind of journey it must have been ("Some Say"). Ti Moune finds Daniel's bedside, where he is lying ill. As she lies with him, Erzulie sings over them ("The Human Heart"). Daniel ignores the townspeople's gossip ("Pray" - Reprise) over the unlikely relationship of a rich Beauxhomme and a poor peasant girl. He knows that Ti Moune is different from other girls ("Some Girls").
At a formal ball at the hotel, Ti Moune is confronted by Daniel and Andrea Deveraux, a daughter of family friends. Andrea asks Ti Moune to dance for them (her ulterior motive is to see if Ti Moune is really in love with Daniel) ("Ti Moune's Dance"). Afterwards, Ti Moune learns that Daniel is engaged to be married to Andrea ("The Ball"). Reminded of his responsibilities, Daniel must go through with the arranged marriage. Ti Moune is heartbroken. Papa Ge reappears and reminds Ti Moune of her promise to exchange her life for Daniel's – but says she can revoke the bargain and encourages her to allow Daniel to be killed, as he has killed their love (Promises/Forever Yours Reprise). Ti Moune refuses, proving that love is stronger than death. As a result of the attempted murder, 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. Out of despair, she dies, and the Gods mourn her loss ("A Part Of Us").
Asaka allows Ti Moune to be reincarnated as a tree that cracks open the gates of the hotel. Her legacy survives and brings together a peasant girl and a young Grande Homme (the son of Daniel) as they play in her branches.

Characters

★ Agwe - God of Water.

★ Andrea Deveraux - Daniel's Promised Wife

★ Armand - Daniel's Father

★ Asaka - Mother of Earth

★ Daniel Beauxhomme - A Grand Homme and in Love with Ti Moune

★ Erzulie - Beautiful Goddess of Love

★ Little Ti Moune

★ Mama Euralie - Adoptive Mother of Ti Moune

★ Papa Ge - Sly Demon of Death

★ Ti Moune - Heroine

★ Tonton Julian - Adopted Father of Ti Moune

★ Daniel's Son

★ Villagers and Grandes Hommes
In the song 'The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes', the character of Armand (Ancestor) is played by Armand (Father), while Madame Armand is played by Andrea.

★ Armand (Ancestor) - Daniel's Ancestor

★ Madame Armand - Wife of Armand (Ancestor)

Musical numbers

★ "Prologue/We Dance" - Storytellers

★ "One Small Girl" - Euralie, Julian, Little Ti Moune & Storytellers

★ "Waiting For Life" - Ti Moune, Storytellers

★ "And The Gods Heard Her Prayer" - Asaka, Agwe, Papa Ge, Erzulie

★ "Rain" - Agwe, Storytellers

★ "Discovering Daniel"

★ "Pray"- Peasants with Ti Moune, Julian, Euralie, Guard

★ "Forever Yours" - Ti Moune and Papa Ge and Daniel

★ "The Sad Tale Of The Beauxhommes" - Armand, Storytellers

★ "Ti Moune" - Euralie & Julian with Ti Moune

★ "Mama Will Provide" - Asaka, Agwe & Papa Ge & Storytellers

★ "Waiting For Life" (Reprise) - Ti Moune

★ "Some Say" - Storytellers

★ "The Human Heart" - Erzulie, Storytellers

★ "Pray" (Reprise) - Storytellers

★ "Some Girls" - Daniel

★ "The Ball" - Andrea, Daniel, Ti Moune, Storytellers

★ "Ti Moune's Dance" - Ti Moune, Grandes Hommes

★ "Andrea Sequence"

★ "Promises/Forever Yours" (Reprise) - Papa Ge, Ti Moune, Erzulie and Storytellers

★ "Wedding Sequence" - Andrea with Ti Moune, Daniel and Papa Ge

★ "A Part Of Us" - Euralie, Little Ti Moune, Julian and storytellers

★ "Why We Tell The Story" - Storytellers with Little Ti Moune

Once On This Island: The Movie

''Once on This Island'', the movie version, will be released on August 20, 2009. It will be based on ''Once On This Island Jr'', the junior version of the musical. The movie soundtrack and the film will not have the songs, "''The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes''", "''Waiting for Life (Reprise)''", and "''Some Girls''". The song, "''Some Say''" will be on the soundtrack as a bonus track as a new version of the song with some soft rock and upbeat rhythm and it is sang by all the cast and will be played for the end credits. The movie will include Brittany Snow and Lucas Grabeel along with Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Zac Efron, Monique Coleman, Vanessa Hudgens with Robert Curtis Brown, Zooey Deschanel, Claire Danes and Christopher Walken.

Cast

★ Brittany Snow as Ti Moune

★ Lucas Grabeel as Daniel Beauxhomme

★ Ashley Tisdale as Asaka, Goddess of Earth

★ Corbin Bleu as Agwe, God of Water

★ Monique Coleman as Ezrulie, Goddess of Love

★ Zac Efron as Papa Ge, God of Death

★ Vanessa Hudgens as Andrea Deveraux

★ Robert Curtis Brown as Tonton Julian

★ Zooey Deschanel as Mama Euralie

★ Claire Danes as Ti Moune's birth mom, Athena

★ Christopher Walken as Armand Beauxhomme

★ AnnaSophia Robb as Little Ti Moune and Daniel and Ti Moune's Daughter

★ Josh Hutcherson as Daniel and Ti Moune's Son

Musical numbers in movie

Track listing

'#'	'Track'	'Artist(s)'	'Written By'
1	"Prologue/We Dance"	Cast	Lynn Ahrens
2	"One Small Girl"	Zooey Deschanel, Robert Curtis Brown & AnnaSophia Robb	Lynn Ahrens
3	"Waiting For Life"	Brittany Snow	Lynn Ahrens
4	"And The Gods Heard Her Prayer"	Ashley Tisdale, Zac Efron, Corbin Bleu & Monique Coleman	Lynn Ahrens
5	"Rain"	Corbin Bleu	Lynn Ahrens
6	"Discovering Daniel"	Brittany Snow, Robert Curtis Brown & Zooey Deschanel	Lynn Ahrens
7	"Pray"	Brittany Snow, Zooey Deschanel, Robert Curtis Brown & Christopher Walken	Lynn Ahrens
8	"Forever Yours"	Brittany Snow, Lucas Grabeel & Zac Efron	Lynn Ahrens
9	"Ti Moune"	Zooey Deschanel, Robert Curtis Brown & Brittany Snow	Lynn Ahrens
10	"Mama Will Provide"	Ashley Tisdale	Lynn Ahrens
11	"The Human Heart"	Monique Coleman	Lynn Ahrens
12	"Pray" (Reprise)	Storytellers	Lynn Ahrens
13	"The Ball"	Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel & Brittany Snow	Lynn Ahrens
14	"Ti Moune's Dance"	Brittany Snow & Lucas Grabeel	Lynn Ahrens
15	"Andrea Sequence"	Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel & Brittany Snow	Lynn Ahrens
16	"Promises/Forever Yours" (Reprise)	Zac Efron, Brittany Snow, & Monique Coleman	Lynn Ahrens
17	"Wedding Sequence"	Brittany Snow & Lucas Grabeel	Lynn Ahrens
18	"A Part Of Us"	Zooey Deschanel, Robert Curtis Brown & Claire Danes	Lynn Ahrens
19	"Why We Tell The Story"	Cast	Lynn Ahrens
20	"Some Say"	Cast	Lynn Ahrens

Awards and Nominations

★ Tony Award for Best Musical (nominee)

★ Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (nominee)

★ Tony Award for Best Original Score (nominee)

★ Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (nominee)

★ Tony Award for Best Costume Design (nominee)

★ Tony Award for Best Lighting Design (nominee)

★ Tony Award for Best Choreography (nominee)

★ Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (nominee)

★ Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (nominee)

★ Theatre World Award (LaChanze, winner)

★ Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical(winner)

References

★ Synopsis and production information

External links

★

★ Composer's Website

★ Description of source novel ''My Love, My Love'' by Rosa Guy