Tropical fable plays out on Naselle High School stage

Published 4:56 am Thursday, May 4, 2006

NASELLE, Wash. – The Naselle High School Drama club presents “Once on This Island,” an American musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It is based on Rosa Guy’s novel, “My Love, My Love,” which in turn was inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid.” Show times are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6, and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 7. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students K-12. The actors are junior high and high school students, and the chorus consists of fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders.

“Once on This Island” uses the tradition of storytelling through music to pass down history, values and insight from one generation to the next. The show is set on an unnamed island in the French Antilles, on the night of a tropical storm. As the storm rages outside, a group of island peasants huddle together around a fire. A young child cries out in fear at the lightning and thunder. The peasants seek to calm the child by acting out a story about the power of love. The story spans the course of the night, as the peasants spin their tale in nearly continous song and dance. By the end of the night, the storm has subsided, the peasants have survived and the little girl has learned the meaning of the story, and is capable of passing the story down the generations.

Jenny Klinger, nearest, and Adam Haase play the adoptive peasant parents of Ti Moune.In the opening number, “We Dance,” the peasants describe their world: Their lives are ruled by powerful gods and their island is ruled by the wealthy Frenchmen, the “grands hommes.” They explain that the peasants and the grand hommes comprise “two different worlds, never meant to meet.”

In “One Small Girl,” they begin the tale of Ti Moune, played by Kelsi Nelson, who fell in love with a Frenchman (Brad Thompson) after being “chosen” by the gods for a magical fate.

From left, Erin Saari, Shelby Leeland, Sylvia Herrold, Karli Nelson and Molly Ballif perform a musical number together.As the story unfolds, dramatic themes are exposed. Class distinction, prejudice, children pursuing their dreams despite their parents’ wishes, death, promises, and at the heart of the story, unrequited love all combine to create a mythical, magical tale.

Other cast members include fourth-graders Haley Pine and Kayti Nelson; Molly Ballif, Sylvia Herrold, Karli Nelson and Erin Saari as the Storytellers; Kyle Mullins, Cheryl Stepp, Conor Smith and Karissa Sultemeir as the Gods and Goddesses; Jenny Klinger and Adam Haase as Ti Moune’s parents. Other characters include Keith Reitz, Alan Erickson, Kellyn Pakenen, Shelby Leeland, Brittany Pellervo, Whitney Queral, Cody Cooley and J.P. Cooley. The chorus consists of Shae Trust, Nikole Hansford, Rachel Underwood, Cassie Van Dusen, London Woodruff, Keely McGuire, J.P. Cooley, Tasha Stenvall, Cody Cooley, Susan Johnson, Jordan Smith, Mary Wirkkala, Victoria Corona and Alexa York.

Agwe, played by Conor Smith, and other gods change the course of events for Ti Moune.The show is a real community production, with school classes pitching in to assist with technical aspects and learning a side of theater craft in the process. Sets were designed by Debbie Littlefield and the Naselle High School art class, and constructed by Greg Nelson and the high school shop class. The program and posters were created by Marc Graton’s computer class.