Once on This Island Is a 9 Works Favorite—They Hope It Becomes Yours, Too
"It was actually very easy for us to decide on that," 9 Works Theatrical Managing Director Santi Santamaria tells Esquire Philippines when asked why they chose to stage Once on This Island this season. The 1990 coming-of-age one-act stage musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty is set to run from September 6 to 29 at the RCBC Plaza in Makati.
"Once on This Island has been in our pipeline for the longest time, even before the pandemic, only because it hasn't been staged [professionally] for 19 to 20 years already. And, apparently, it's one of the favorites of the entire 9 Works team.
Right after Rent, we were actually thinking of what we would want to stage. And fortunately enough, I had a meeting with Darwin [Mariano] of Ticket2Me late last year. And we were talking about a lot of stuff, our partnerships and everything. And then he actually mentioned that if 9 Works can do Once on This Island, he would really love to partner with [us]. Sabi niya, 'I think you guys are the only ones who can do it.' And then I told him, 'You know, we actually have the rights to it. So we'll do it possibly later on. I just don't know when.'
So it wasn't really planned for this year. It could have been next year. I really didn't know when. But when we had to fill in September for RCBC only for a limited run, we were discussing eventually what we would put [there]. Then, Once on This Island just came up. It was unanimous with the team," Santamaria continues in a media roundtable after the production's rehearsals last August 13.
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You Can Never Go Wrong With a Classic Like Once on This Island
For Artistic Director Robbie Guevara, choosing to stage Once on This Island is part of his personal goal to "always revive classics."
Once on This Island's original Broadway production ran from 1990 to 1991, then opened in West End in 1994, where it won Best New Musical at the Laurence Olivier Award. Its Broadway revival in 2017 earned it the Tony Awards for Best Revival of Musical.
"Me personally, I think it should be already one of our goals to always revive classics. And this is already a classic that came out lately. I just wish they would still write musicals like this kasi wala na; they don't. The past 10 years haven't seen a musical like this on Broadway or in the West End. And it would be great for the Zillennials to experience this kind of storytelling. Right now, what attracts the younger generation is a lot of glitz and glamor and sharp choreography. There's nothing wrong with that. [...] But then, what about the story? For me, the story's number one. This one, you will get the story. As a matter of fact, the driving force is the story," Guevara adds.
Based on Rosa Guy's novel My Love, My Love, which is a Caribbean-set retelling of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, Once on This Island follows Ti Moune, a fearless peasant girl who embarks on a remarkable journey fueled by love and guided by the island's mighty gods.
Ti Moune's journey begins when she saves the life of Daniel, a handsome but ailing aristocrat, after a devastating storm. Her love for him drives her to bargain with the gods, offering her own life in exchange for his. This act of ultimate sacrifice underscores the depth of her love and the strength of her spirit. The musical delves into themes of racism and class struggle on a lush Caribbean island reminiscent of Haiti.
Mio Infante, who's in charge of scenography, points out how close this is to the Filipino psyche.
"It's about racial inequality on an island, which is actually very underlying to what we have here. In Once in This Island, they were colonized. The Caribbeans were also colonized by the West, which is the Spanish, the French, and the Portuguese, similar to us. So there's a lot of racial inequality issues here, there's a lot of colonial mentality here, which which we want to also bring about in the story, but not so much in your face. It's an underlying current. Another thing, also, that is very similar to the Filipinos, is the resilience. Because the Caribbean is a very typhoon-prone region, also very similar to the Philippines. So, it's actually because of these natural disasters that we become very resilient," he explains.
Bringing Back the Broadway Style
Guevara is also keen on reeducating both young theater-goers and up-and-coming theater artists with the gravitas of Broadway and West End through Once on This Island. It's his second favorite musical next to Les Miserables, he revealed, and he already had an idea of how he wanted to direct it even before the group decided to stage it this year.
"[Once on This Island] is a dance-heavy musical, but it was never touted as a dance musical. Never. When you hear Hamilton, when you hear La Cage aux Folles, when you hear West Side Story, automatically dance musicals. This is a dance musical, but it's never been marketed as such. And I wouldn't like people to go home saying, 'Ang galing ng dancing.' Because it's really the story that's going to move you," he emphasized an earlier point.
Alongside musical director Daniel Bartolome, he sees that the show is presented in "Broadway style."
"Not only did we want to service and orient the new market with these kinds of shows, we also want to educate the younger performers. Kasi wala na yung Broadway style of singing. It's all going pop. And I like to think that, especially our two Ti Moune, who are really more sanay with pop. After auditions pa lang, the number one push was, 'This is Broadway, you're gonna belt, but you're gonna have to belt the Broadway style. Because the pop belt will not work.' We agreed that this is a quintessential Broadway musical, and it should be. The audience should hear that because they haven't heard one in a long time," he added.
Ti Moune, the story's protagonist, is played alternately by GMA Sparkle artist Thea Astley and Star Magic recording artist Angela Ken.
Joining them are Sam Concepcion and Jef Flores for the role of Daniel Beauxhomme, Lorenz Martinez as Papa Ge, Garrett Bolden as Agwe, Radha as Asaka, Shiela Valderrama-Martinez and Jasmine Fitzgerald alternate as Erzulie, Noel Rayos and Raul Montesa as Tonton Julian, Lani Ligot as Mama Euralie, Krystal Kane and Shanaia Gomez as Andrea, PJ Rebullida as Armand, Bianca Estacio and Reese Iso as Little Ti Moune. The storytellers are Fay Castro, Jordan Andrews, Sam Libao, and Jonjon Martin.
Once on This Island runs from September 6 to 29 at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati. Tickets, which are priced from P2,200 to P3,900, are available through Ticket2Me.
