Louise O. Gerrits Theater. December 13, 14 and 15, 2013.
New World School of the Arts music theater program welcomes the holidays with the Olivier-Award winning musical Once on this Island. Under the direction of Stuart Meltzer, this Caribbean-flavored one-act musical by Lynn Ahrens combines the magic of love stories and the art of storytelling to illustrate the ever-present socioeconomic realities of the Caribbean. Presented by NWSA high school seniors and juniors from the music theater program, this is “the first African-American focused high school production that we’ve done here in a while,” said Meltzer.
This Tony-award nominated Broadway production, akin to a more somber “The Little Mermaid,” tells the story of Ti Moune (played by senior Ciara Harris), a peasant girl who rescues Daniel (played be junior Tal Kedem), a wealthy boy from the other side of her island, after a card accident. As Ti Moune saves his life and nurses Daniel back to health they fall in love and dream the impossibledream of a life together. When Daniel is returned to his people, the gods who rule the island lead Ti Moune on a quest that tests the strength of her love against the powerful forces of prejudice, hatred and death.
With costumes and set design well on their way, the musical is already taking over much of the rehearsal time and space for NWSA high school music theater students. Meltzer, who not only directs the play but is also involved in its promotion, recently directed the publicity photo shoot. “The idea of the photo shoot was that we’re all submerged in water. We had blue cloth threaded between us,” explained Sean Stack, who plays Agwe, the god of water, in the musical.
General admission is $15, students and seniors $10. Tickets can be purchased online at nwsa.mdc.edu.
Louise O. Gerrits Theater
25 NE 2nd Street, 8th Floor
Miami, FL 33132
305.237.3135
nwsa.mdc.edu
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