Staged in the near perfectly suited Circle in the Square Theater, Once On This Island is back on Broadway. Fair disclosures: I saw the original world premiere Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizon in 1990 and then attended its opening night on Broadway later that year. My great childhood friend, Gerry McIntyre, was in the cast. I know the show, love the show and was looking forward to its new incarnation.
This revival of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s first Broadway musical (Ragtime, Seussical) was widely praised. I attended the show with David and Sara who both LOVED it. To be honest, I am firmly in the LIKED it category. The setting was fantastic. A sandy beach, ocean water and the islanders greet us on arrival. A thunderstorm rolls in and “One Small Girl” is frightened. As a distraction, the storytellers tell her about Ti Moune (Hailey Kilgore, excellent). She is a dark skinned islander who falls for Daniel (Isaac Powell), a lighter skinned boy from the wealthier class. With exceptional music and lyrics, the whole fable is magical. Special kudos to Kenita R. Miller (Mama Euralie) and Alex Newell (Asaka) who were both terrific and fun to watch.
So why the LIKED it category? I found the direction and pacing here slightly frenetic, especially in the beginning. The staging in the round forces the cast to occasionally have their back to you and, as a result, I found the lyrics to get lost (or swallowed by the sound design which was odd given I was centrally seated in the third row). I was reminded of the 2012 Godspell revival in the same theater in which songs also seemed aggressively “amped up” and lyrics sadly sacrificed. Once On This Island is a beautiful show and this is a very good version. I wished I loved it as much as my fellow theatergoers. Perhaps I am overly familiar with the material? In this case, I really don’t think so.