A
musical by
Stephen Flaherty and
Lynn Ahrens. Once on This
Island touches on issues including
race relations,
magic,
voodoo, and
santeria, in the context of a
Romeo and Juliet-style
love story.
The
gods,
Erzulie (
goddess of
Love),
Asaka (
mother of the
Earth),
Agwe (
god of
Water), and ]Papa Ge] (sly
demon of
Death) watch over, discuss, and shape the lives of
Ti Moune, her
adoptive parents,
Daniel Beauxhomme and his
family.
Set on a
remote,
French-speaking island in the
Carribean,
OOTI begins with the people of the small, poor
villages of the
coastal areas. They live, constantly
at the whim of the gods--they
survive through
tsunami,
floods,
drought, and
hurricanes--as well as more personal
disasters (
death,
love). They
dance through their lives, literally and figuratively, as each day passes.
We Dance
Sometimes, though, despite their prayers,
disasters do strike these little villages.
One Small Girl loses her mother and her home, and everything she knows to a storm. Her
life is saved, literally
by the grace of god, and she is left
afraid and
alone in a tree.
After the storm, she is found by
TonTon Julien and
Mama, an older couple, who decide (with help from Erzulie) to take in this poor lost
orphan.
Ti Moune grows up under the loving care of Mama and TonTon, but into a restless and ambitious young woman,
Waiting for Life to really begin. She asks the
gods to bring her
adventure, to bring her the "
stranger in white, in a
car" whom she sees racing past her little village, obviously off to do something far more exciting than
fishing or
keeping house.
And the Gods Heard Her Prayer.... They
laugh at her
impertinance, but grant her wish to settle an argument between themselves--which is stronger,
Love or
Death.
Agwe brings a great
Rainstorm, and
Daniel Beauxhomme's car crashes near where
Ti Moune is walking. She pulls him from the wreckage, and takes it upon herself to
nurse him back to health, as TonTon goes in search of Daniel's people.
Tonton searches, praying to
Asaka for guidance, while Ti Moune can see nothing but Daniel, so in love is she. The villagers
Pray to the gods that this stranger will not bring bad luck to them, despite this impertinant girl's blatant disobedience in trying to save him. Ti Moune, however, has no such
humility. She confronts
Papa Ge, and offers her life in the place of Daniel's. He agrees to the bargain, so that either Daniel will love Ti Moune, or she will die.
Forever Yours
In the meanitme, TonTon reaches the city and the Hotel Beauxhomme, and they take Daniel back to his family. Their sad story,
The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes is one of
adultery and
betrayal resulting in a curse--the family is disgraced, and can never return to France, because they are half-black. Because of this, they hate the villagers, for reminding them of their
ancestry.
Ti Moune is devastated at the loss of her love, and decides that she has to follow, though she does not know the way. She sets out, trusting that
Mama Will Provide, and somehow reaches the city.
Some Say
She is
heartbroken to discover that Daniel does not remember her, but the language of
love (and
Erzulie) remind him that they are
Part of the Human Heart. Daniel begins recovering, faster than ever, but Ti Moune's presence in the house evokes the gossip of the townspeople
Pray reprise because what Daniel has not told Ti Moune is that, though he loves her, he has been engaged since birth to
Andrea Deveraux, a snobbish girl from a good
French family. He laments
Some Girls you marry, some you love... but when Andrea and Ti Moune meet at
The Ball, Andrea tells Ti Moune of her and Daniel's engagement
When We are Wed. Andrea has Ti Moune thrown out of the Hotel Beauxhomme, as they prepare for their
wedding.
The
betrayal is too much for Ti Moune. She dies
Forever Yours reprise and even the gods are moved by the power of her love.
A Part of Us.
The
storytellers/
chorus wrap up the show, explaining the triumph of Love over even Death
Why We Tell The Story