Photo by Mark Frohna
Based on Rosa Guy’s 1985 novel My Love, My Love, Once on This Island was turned into a musical by the successful Broadway team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Seussical). And in the skilled hands of Skylight Music Theatre’s veteran director Bill Theisen, this variation on the Romeo and Juliet theme set on a Caribbean island is as welcome and uplifting as the warm summer breezes it conjures in our snow-shivery imaginations.
The story is classic: the orphan, Ti Moune, is from the darker skinned peasant side of this French Antilles island; Daniel, the wealthy boy she rescues and heals, is from the lighter-skinned side, descended from French planters. They are pawns in the hands of the island’s gods—Water, Earth, Love and Death—who wager on which is stronger; the “journey of love against the power of death.” (No spoilers here.) Even stronger are the social prejudices that shroud the lovers as their love becomes increasingly public.
The well-cast 11-member ensemble plays a variety of roles and they charm and delight in every step of this journey. The gods—Bill Jackson, Raven Dockery, Shawn Holmes and Cynthia Cobb—are one fun-loving bunch of deities with the vocal power and range to fully inhabit the vibrant musical score. Sheri Williams Pannell and Lee Palmer work well as Ti Moune’s adoptive parents and as the child version of the orphan, Makayla Davis is as talented as she is cute in the role.
As the grown-up version of Ti Moune, Kanova Johnson captures our hearts with her determination to love against all odds. Sean Anthony Jackson (Daniel), Bria Cloyd (his fiancée since childhood) and Chaz’men Williams-Ali (Armand) round out this very solid cast.
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What completes island life so beautifully in Once on This Island is the knockout set design by Ken Goldstein, brimming over with rich, vibrant colors, and Loyce Arthur’s clever, imaginative costuming. So, let it snow while it can. A visit to Once on this Island definitely warms the spirit, inside and (even) outside.
Once on this Island runs through Feb. 22 in the Broadway Theatre Center’s Cabot Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets call 414-291-7800 or visit skylightmusictheare.org
