Overview
Synopsis
An island of storytellers come together to tell a story of love, bravery, and strength...the story of the peasant girl, Ti Moune. An orphan, chosen by the Gods, is taken into a simple and loving family, Though content, she feels like she was destined for something more. After a terrible accident caused by a wicked storm, Ti Moune falls for a handsome, ailing, stranger whom she tries desperately to nurse back to health. She bargains with the Gods for his life, but to do so she must make the ultimate sacrifice. This sets our young peasant girl on the ultimate quest to answer the age old question, can love conquer death?
Show Information
- Book
- Lynn Ahrens
- Music
- Stephen Flaherty
- Lyrics
- Lynn Ahrens
- Category
- Musical
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 1
- First Produced
- 1990
- Genres
- Drama
- Settings
- Simple/No Set
- Time & Place
- contemporary
- Cast Size
- medium
- Orchestra Size
- Small
- Dancing
- Heavy
- Licensor
- Music Theatre International
- Ideal For
- College/University, Community Theatre, Diverse Cast, Ensemble Cast, High School, Large Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Star Vehicle Female, Mostly Female Cast, Includes Adult, Mature Adult, Young Adult, Late Teen, Child, Early Teen Characters, Medium Cast
Context
From the Tony Award-winning songwriting team, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, comes the beloved musical Once on This Island. The show had its Off-Broadway premier in May of 1990 and subsequently had its big Broadway opening in October of the same year, This original production starred the effervescent La Chanze in the leading role of Ti Moune.
The original Broadway production was nominated for several Tony awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score, Best Featured
to read the context for Once on This Island and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
It is a rainy night and the storytellers have gathered to comfort a little girl afraid of the coming storm. They set the scene: an island known as “the Jewel of the Antilles” where the land is split in two between the dark-skinned peasants and the lighter-skinned elite. They introduce the four Gods (Asaka, goddess of the Earth; Agwe, god of Water; Erzulie, goddess of love; and Papa Ge, demon of death) who are worshiped by the islanders through the expression of dance ("Prologue/We Dance").
to read the plot for Once on This Island and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Alto |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Bass |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Ensemble |
Female |
|
|
|
Ensemble |
Either Gender |
Contralto |
Songs
- “Prologue/"We Dance" - Storytellers
- "One Small Girl" - Mama Euralie, Tonton Julian, Little Ti Moune, and Storytellers
- "Waiting for Life" - Ti Moune and Storytellers
- "And the Gods Heard Her Prayer" - Asaka, Agwe, Erzulie, and Papa Ge
- "Rain" - Agwe and Storytellers
- "Pray" - Ti Moune, Mama Euralie, Tonton Julian, Guard and Storytellers
- "Forever Yours" - Ti Moune, Daniel and Papa Ge
- "The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes" - Armand and Storytellers
- "Ti Moune"- Ti Moune, Mama Euralie, Tonton Julian
- "Mama Will Provide" - Asaka and Storytellers
- "Waiting for Life" (Reprise) - Ti Moune
- "Some Say" - Storytellers (Cut from MTI's Junior Version)
- "The Human Heart" - Erzulie and Storytellers
- "Pray" (Reprise) - Storytellers
- "Some Girls" - Daniel (Cut from MTI's Junior Version)
- "The Ball" - Andrea, Daniel, Ti Moune, and Storytellers
- "When We Are Wed" - Andrea, Daniel and Ti Moune
- "Forever Yours" (Reprise) - Papa Ge, Ti Moune, Erzulie, and Storytellers
- "A Part of Us" - Mama Euralie, Tonton Julian, Little Ti Moune, and Storytellers
- "Why We Tell the Story" - Storytellers
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
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