Orange County Children’s Theatre (OCCT) is presenting its production of Once on This Island, with wall-to-wall dancing, movement and mime. From the first number, titled “We Dance,” the audience is drawn into the evening’s once-upon-a-time storytelling style and Caribbean island atmosphere.
Directed and choreographed by Edward Bangasser, with assistant choreographer Jene’a DeCastro, and vocal direction by Mary DiCamillo, the show will be performed at Stanton Civic Center, 7800 Katella Avenue in Stanton through Sept. 7. Tickets for all shows are $10 online, $12 at the door. All tickets can be purchased online at www.occt.org.
Once On This Island is an exciting American musical with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, the same artistic duo who won the Tony Award for Ragtime. It is based on Rosa Guys’ novel My Love, My Love, which was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
The show takes place on a beautiful island in the French Antilles, on the night of a terrible tropical storm. All the villagers are gathered in the tribal hut, seeking shelter from the storm. To ease the fears of one little girl, the villagers begin to tell the story of a young orphan girl named Ti Moune, the story of a peasant girl who has fallen in love above her class.
The music of the show weaves themes heavily influenced by the instrumentation and rhythms of the Caribbean Islands. With songs titled “Mama Will Provide,” “Rain,” and “Why We Tell The Story,” plus many more, audiences will be transported to an island of two different worlds, where peasants pray to their gods for survival, where rich people live behind high walls, and where the power of love is tested against the power of death.
For more details about Once on this Island or how to get children involved in OCCT’s next production, call the OCCT hotline at (714) 502-2244 or visit http://www.occt.org.
