Once On This Island

I'd never come across this musical before, but the promo material said it was inspired by the Little Mermaid. I'm always interested in fairytales and adaptations, so I went along to the Hayes Theatre to check it out.


Plot

* On an island in the Caribbean, a peasant girl saves an aristocrat boy, and the gods make a bet about whether love is stronger than death.

* The girl is Ti Moune, an orphan taken in by a kindly couple, all of them darker-skinned peasants who live in the villages. The boy is Daniel, one of the lighter-skinned upper class descended from the French colonists and their slaves.

* The gods are Asaka (mother of earth), Agwe (god of water), Erzulie (goddess of Love), and Papa Ge (demon of death).


Production

* While the story is set in the Caribbean, this production mingles in elements from Indigenous, Pacific, and Asian cultures. It was very cool to see that kind of fusion, like the Filipino traditional clothing, or the brief glimpse of a Māori haka.

* The set was simple but atmospheric, with wooden walls decorated with bamboo leaves to evoke the island.

* I loved how the car was mostly a steering wheel with lights and a hint of framework.


Favourite songs

* "Rain" - Dramatic and cool. The god Agwe sending a storm to make Daniel crash his car off the road, and setting in motion the test of love versus death. (The actor for Agwe reminded me a lot of Ares from Xena.)

* "Mama Will Provide" - Energetic and upbeat. The goddess Asaka looking after Ti Moune on her journey to find Daniel again, by showering her with the natural bounty of the island.

* "Some Say" - I love that this is a telling by the villagers of Ti Moune's journey, that has become legend, and no one actually knows the truth of what happened. It makes it feel mythic and epic. (I love the bit about Ti Moune having to wear shoes in the city, and how they're so tight they hurt her feet. A nifty bit of adaptation.)


( Spoilery reactions )

Apparently Disney has the rights to do a movie version.