ONCE ON THIS ISLAND A Musical

Book and Lyric by LYNN AHRENS

Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY

Based Upon The Novel " My Love, My Love " By Rosa Guy"

Director

CRYSTIN GILMORE

Music Director SAM HENDERSON

Scenic Designer SETH HOWARD

Properties Designer ALINE TOLOTO

Sound Designer LUKE WALCHUK

Choreographer STEVEN PRINCE TATE

Costume Designer COURTNI RIDDICK

Lighting Designer CALEB S. GARNER

Acting Foundations Coach

SYDNEY LARIBO

Stage Manager

RAVYN T. MEADOR

Originally Directed and Choreographed on Broadway by Graciela Daniele Playwrights Horizons, Inc. Produced ONCE ON THIS ISLAND Off-Broadway In 1990. Originally Produced On Broadway By The Shubert Organization, Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. Suntory International Corporation and James Walsh, In Association With Playwrights Horizons.

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND

Is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

Charleston Stage is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and a constituent member of the Theatre Communication Group (TCG), the national organization for the American Theatre. Charleston Stage is funded in part by grants from the South Carolina Arts Commission, a state agency which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as stimulus funding as a part of the American Rescue Plan; the City of Charleston; the Charleston County and contributions from friends like you.

This project is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the American Rescue Plan.

Life has a way of preparing you for what you don't know you're capable of. I have been blessed to grace the Dock Street stage with Charleston Stage numerous times and being on the "other side of the table" wasn't even something I thought I could do successfully. I had found my lane and I decided to stay comfortably in it, but growth can't happen without being stretched, experiencing a challenge, or evoking change. Thankfully, Marybeth and Julian believed I was up for the challenge.

Following its premiere at Playwrights Horizons, the original Broadway production of Once On This Island opened at the Booth Theatre on October 18, 1990 and ran until 1991. The West End production opened in 1994 and won the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. The musical was revived on Broadway in a production that opened on December 3, 2017 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. It won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

I decided to set this production in Haiti in the early 2000 before the last heartbreaking earthquake. I desire to display the resilience of people who have less and do more, who dream big and feel deeply.

Once On This Island is a story of the haves and the have-nots. In today's world, the separation would be vacation destinations, zip codes, job titles or the kind of car you drive.

The touchy questions, "What do you do?" and "Where do you live?" are asked by those who want to know how much respect to show you based on your response. I'm a Southern girl from the outskirts of Memphis who moved to New York fifteen years ago. When people ask where I live in the city, I wait for their demeanor to change after responding, "the Bronx" and more often than not it does. I often wonder if they have ever been to the area I call home, if they've had an unpleasant experience there, or whether they base their opinion on world views. Home is where we lay our heads and is due equal respect regardless of the zip code.

By my definition, Once On This Island is a story of unconditional love, vulnerability, and the challenges of life and its costs. The overall feeling I hope to portray is one of joy amid sadness, financial lack, and separation. Hope is never lost and beauty can be found in the most forgotten, overlooked, and neglected places. I desire that every audience member leaves this theater with a little more joy, a broader capacity to love, and a feeling in their heart that they've never felt before. I hope we all find a reason to dance in the rain and be our authentic selves because who you are and what you carry is, indeed, of value to this world. And that's why we tell this story.

Crystin Gilmore, Director of Once On This Island

LYNN AHRENS (Book and Lyrics)

Lynn Ahrens won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards and received two Grammy nominations for Broadway's Ragtime. For Twentieth Century Fox's animated feature film Anastasia, she was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes. She and longtime collaborator Stephen Flaherty received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement, and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. Broadway: Anastasia; Once On This Island (Olivier Award, Best Musical; Tony nominations, Best Book and Score); Seussical (Grammy nomination); My Favorite Year; Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life; Rocky; Madison Square Garden's A Christmas Carol; Ragtime (2010 Broadway revival). Off-Broadway and regional: Lincoln Center Theater's Dessa Rose, The Glorious Ones (both Drama Desk-nominated) and A Man of No Importance (Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Musical); Lucky Stiff; Little Dancer (Kennedy Center world premiere). Film and television credits include A "Christmas Carol" (NBCTV); Camp (IFC Films); "Schoolhouse Rock" (ABC-TV) and others. (Emmy Award and four Emmy nominations). She is a Council member of the Dramatists Guild of America, a co-founder of the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program, and a Lilly Award winner for Lyrics. AhrensAndFlaherty.com

STEPHEN FLAHERTY (Music)

Stephen Flaherty is the composer of the Broadway musicals Ragtime (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC Awards, two Grammy nominations), Seussical (Grammy, Drama Desk nominations), Once On This Island (Tony nomination, Olivier Award, Best Musical) and Rocky. Additional Broadway includes Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life (original songs) and Neil Simon's Proposals (incidental music). Stephen has also written four musicals at Lincoln Center Theatre: The Glorious Ones (OCC, Drama Desk nominations), Dessa Rose (OCC, Drama Desk nominations), A Man of No Importance (OCC, Best Musical, Drama Desk nomination) and My Favorite Year. Other theater includes In Your Arms (Old Globe), Little Dancer (Kennedy Center), Lucky Stiff (Playwrights Horizons) and Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein (Chicago's Jefferson Award, Best New Musical.) Film includes Anastasia (two Academy Award and two Golden Globe nominations), the documentary After The Storm and Lucky Stiff. Mr. Flaherty's concert music has premiered at the Hollywood Bowl, Boston's Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Guggenheim Museum and Symphony Space. This year celebrates Stephen's 32-year collaboration with lyricist-librettist Lynn Ahrens. Stephen and Lynn are members of the Dramatists Guild Council and co- founders of the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program. In 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall Of Fame. Upcoming: the stage adaptation of Anastasia. AhrensAndFlaherty.com

Musical Theatre International

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior™ shows are 30and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.

The Cast

CHARACTER ACTOR

Ti Moune/Erzulie ............................................................................................................. FACIA LEE*

Ti Moune/Erzulie .............................................................................................. JHONIKA WRIGHT*

Agwe ............................................................................................................................. ELISHA BLACK

Papa Ge ............................................................................................................... BARON L. CLAY, JR.

Asaka ............................................................................................................... BRIETTA GOODMAN*

Tonton Julian.......................................................................................... ANTHONY MCCUTCHEN

Mama Euralie ......................................................................................................... LETTY RICHEY**

Daniel .......................................................................................................K’NIQUE EICHELBERGER*

Andrea Deveraux/Storyteller ..................................................................... ARIANA SNOWDEN

Armand Beauxhomme/Storyteller/US Tonton Julian.................................. CLYDE MOSER

Little Ti Moune ...................................................................................................... GIANNA GAVINS

Little Ti Moune ............................................................................................ BROOKLYN WILLIAMS

Storyteller/US Mama Euralie .................................................................... MICHELLE BURGESS

Storyteller ...................................................................................................... JAH’MAR COAKLEY**

Storyteller .............................................................................................................. JORDAN LEEANN

Storyteller/US Andrea ...............................................................................................IMANI LLOYD

Storyteller/US Armand ........................................................................................JASON MARION

Storyteller/US Erzulie .................................................................................... LATANYA MUELLER

Storyteller .......................................................................................................... KAITLYN PINCKNEY

Storyteller ............................................................................................................RONNIE WALKER II

Storyteller/US Daniel................................................................................... FREDERICK WEBB JR

* Member, Charleston Stage Resident Acting Company ** Member, Charleston Stage Acting Ensemble "US" Indicates Understudy Role

The Orchestra

Conductor/ Keyboard 1...................................................................................SAM HENDERSON

Keyboard 2 .............................................................................................................. MICHAEL LOPEZ

Guitar ...................................................................................................................... THOMAS NORRIS

Bass ...................................................................................... MITCH GOODWIN AND TIM KHAYAT

Drums/Percussion ..................................................................................................... KAIN NAYLOR

Piccolo/Flute/Alto Flute .......................................................................................... LISA ALVAREZ

Clarinet/Saxophone .............................................................................................. JULIE MATHIAS