We Tell The Story: The Authorized Ahrens & Flaherty Fan Site

Book & Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens

Music by Stephen Flaherty

Direction and Choreography by Graciela Daniele

Orchestrations by Michael Starobin

"For out of what we live

and we believe

Our lives become

The stories that we weave"

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND was Ahrens' and Flaherty's first real taste of success. Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, the show is a twist on the traditional "Little Mermaid" tale, and tells the story of Ti Moune, a poor peasant girl who falls in love with Daniel, an upper class boy whose life she saves after a car crash. Central to the story are four gods that the peasants believe rule their lives. The gods of Love , (Erzulie) Earth (Asaka), Water (Agwe) , and Death (Papa Ge) cause the lives of the young lovers to intersect, and send Ti Moune on the fateful journey that tests the strength of her love.

Set in the French Antilles, Once On This Island boasts a score that is immediately and continually reflective of this locale. There are rousing, upbeat numbers like "Mama Will Provide," and "Some Say," as well as poignant ballads like "The Human Heart"and "Forever Yours". While some of the numbers stand on their own, there can be no mistaking a song from "Once On This Island" with a song from any other show, because Ahrens and Flaherty never betray the story's Caribbbean roots.

Once On This Island originated at Playwrights Horizons on April 6, 1990. It opened at the Booth Theater on Broadway on October 18, 1990 and played for 469 performances. The show also received eight Tony Award Nominations, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. On May 12, 2002, the original Broadway cast reunited for a special two concert benefit performance benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund.

In 2007, a documentary film entitled After the Storm, began filming. The documentary follows the progress of a group of young adults as they stage a production of Once On This Island in post-Katrina New Orleans. Gerry McIntyre, who starred in the original cast of the show, is directing the teens featured in the film. To learn more about this project, visit the After the Storm website.

The Original Broadway Cast:

Ti Moune-- LaChanze

Daniel-- Jerry Dixon

Erzulie, Goddess of Love-- Andrea Frierson

Mama Euralie-- Sheila Gibbs

Ti Moune-- La Chanze

Asaka, Mother of the Earth-- Kecia Lewis-Evans

Little Ti Moune-- Afi McClendon

Armand-- Gerry McIntyre

Agwe, God of Water -- Milton Craig Nealy

Andrea-- Nikki Rene

Papa Ge, Demon of Death-- Eric Riley

Tonton Julian-- Ellis E. Williams

The Songs

We Dance-- Storytellers
One Small Girl-- Mama Euralie, Tonton Julian, Little Ti Moune, Storytellers
Waiting for Life-- Ti Moune, Storytellers
And the Gods Heard Her Prayer -- Asaka, Agwe, Papa Ge, Erzulie
Rain-- Agwe, Storytellers
Pray -- Ti Moune, Tonton Julian, Mama Euralie, Guard, Storytellers
Forever Yours-- Ti Moune, Daniel, Papa Ge
The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes -- Armand, Storytellers
Ti Moune -- Mama Euralie, Tonton Julian, Ti Moune
Mama Will Provide-- Asaka, Storytellers
Some Say -- Storytellers
Human Heart -- Erzulie, Storytellers
Pray ( reprise) -- Storytellers
Some Girls -- Daniel
The Ball-- Andrea, Daniel, Ti Moune, Storytellers
Ti Moune's Dance -- Ti Moune, Grands Hommes
When We Are Wed -- Andrea, Ti Moune, Daniel, Storytellers
Forever Yours ( reprise) Papa Ge, Ti Moune, Erzulie, Storytellers
A Part of Us-- Mama Euralie, Little Ti Moune, Tonton Julian, Storytellers
Why We Tell the Story-- Storytellers

Sounds

Why We Tell The Story ( The Company)

Come Down From the Tree ( cut from the show) ( Lillias White)

Quotables

"My hope was to make the vocal textures of the ensemble sound like the waves, waves of sound supporting Erzulie’s lead vocal as it floats and soars over, blessing Ti Moune’s pure heart. The song for me is as much about community as it is about romantic love."(Stephen Flaherty on "The Human Heart")
"This song almost didn't make it into the show--I kept feeling that for some reason it didn't work and wanted to cut it. As it turned out, what didn't work was the original bridge. We re-wrote the bridge for LaChanze, giving her a high note for her amazing voice, and it became a showstopper." (Lynn Ahrens on "Waiting for Life.")

On why the story is worth telling:

"At first, we looked at each other and said, 'It's a lovely story, but why tell it?...but the more we batted it around, the more interested we became in the idea of storytelling, and the way people use stories to understand their own life experiences and come to terms with grief....'" ( Lynn Ahrens, NY Times interview, 1990)

On the racial components of the show:

"'The skepticism all came from whites, about white writers writing a -quote-black musical. I don't think of it as a black musical. It happens to have an all black cast, but it's a very, very universal story. The emotions of it and the experience of the characters could also happen to anyone. It's not about the black experience'" ( Lynn Ahrens, Washington Times interview, 1992)

"And yet, it draws heavily on different forms of black music, so I think it took me a while to give myself permission to go ahead with it." (Stephen Flaherty, Washington Times interview, 1992)

On changing the ending of Guy's novel:

" We thought, if we end with this girl's death, then what is this show about?...Stick to your own kind? Don't leave home? Don'tgo out into the world? We didn't want to write a show that gave messages we don't believe ourselves" (Lynn Ahrens, Washington Times interview, 1992)

Critics and others:

" I was excited when I heard they wanted to make a musical . That was back in 1988. My agent called me and I spoke to Lynn Ahrens. I thought the original book would be made into a French film, since the French seem to like this type of book more than Americans." ( Rosa Guy, 1992)

"Although I was a fan and a supporter, I was not prepared for the artistic leap of Once On This Island. Their other shows were young work, and suddenly here was a fully mature musical. I guess the thing I find extraordinary is that they wrote a show that could easily have been whimsical. Instead, they dug into the human soul of the story." ( Richard Maltby, composer, Washington Times interview, 1992)

" I remember sitting in Lynn's apartment while she and Stephen played through the score, and the tears were running down my face. I said ' I'm not sure I'm -sob- the right director for-sob-this piece because directors have need to be clinical, and this is making me cry!' And Lynn said ' No, no, we want you with the tears and everything'" ( Graciela Daniele, Show Music Magazine, Fall 1998)

"In her lyrics and very spare dialogue, Ms. Ahrens doesn't make the mistake of writing cutesy mock-dialect. Her words are simple, direct, and poignant" ( Frank Rich, New York Times)

" Once On This Island" has the integrity of genuine fairy tales in that it doesn't lead to a saccharine ending, but to a catharsis, transcendent acceptance of the dust-to- dust continuity of life and death" ( Frank Rich, New York Times, 1990)

" Mr. Flaherty immersed himself in Caribbean rythms and reshaped them through his prolific knack for melody...The result is a score that gets the body jumping and the feet tapping. Miss Ahrens has shown she can be as cerebral as needs be, but here she isn't going as much for the head as for the soul...Instead of cleverness, she injects an emotional and elegant peasant poetry that is captivating" ( Hap Erstein, Washington Times, 1992)

Interesting Facts

After the New York Times compared ONCE ON THIS ISLAND favorably to The Little Mermaid, Disney executives flew to NY, saw the show, and promptly signed A&F to write the score for an animated feature. It was about whales and had a tentative title of Song of the Sea.

Lynn bought her copy of My Love, My Love for $1.50 at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on 18th Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

Music Theater International recently commissioned a "junior" version of the show so it can be performed by children's theater companies. ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, jr. premiered in Rahway, NJ on December 3, 1998.

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND originally had a tentative title of Ti Moune
"ONCE ON THIS ISLAND" originally contained a song for Agwe, the god of water, that was called "Daughter of the Sea.", inspired by the scene in the novel in which Ti Moune is bathing, and witnesses the crash of Daniel's car. It was a beautiful, lyrical piece, and in the first workshop, it had been choreographed with ribbons, but it just fell flat. Feeling that the song was not active enough, Lynn came up with the idea of the God of Water causing the rain, which causes Daniel's car to skid." When they first played the song "Rain" for the rest of creative team, they were not even at the end of the number when Graciela Daniele and Loy Arcenas were bursting with ideas of what they could do with the number. Stephen said this is a good example of why "it's not a good thing to sit on your ideas until every last note is perfect.", because that number was a true creative collaboration.

In the original novel, the ending has Ti Moune being trampled to death by a crowd as they run to witness the wedding of Daniel and Andrea!

In a special issue of Newsweek magazine, which celebrates 100 years of 100 movies, the article on musicals states that Jason Alexander, of Seinfeld fame has been trying for four years to finance a movie version of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND!!!! He is quoted as saying people love the score, but still balk at the idea of movie musicals. Let's hope A&F's recent Tony win for RAGTIME will renew interest in this project!!

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND won the 1995 Olivier Award for London's Best Musical. A London Cast Recording is also available.

Two Songs cut from the show can be heard on the Lost in Boston CD's (volumes 1 & 3) on the Varese Sarabande label. "Come Down From the Tree" is performed by Lillias White, and "When Daniel Marries" is performed by La Chanze.

Lilias White, a Tony winner for "The Life" , played Asaka for most of the Broadway run. In a recent interview, she had this to say about working on the show:
"I remember doing that show and thinking how big a blessing it was to be able to hear Milton Craig Neely boom out that song 'Rain' every night. It just was so exciting to me, a very moving show to me."

Graciela Daniele, who directed and choreographed the show, teamed up with Lynn & Stephen again, as the choreographer of RAGTIME
A few days before rehearsals for ONCE ON THIS ISLAND were set to begin, Graciela Daniele offered to withdraw as director/ choreographer of the show, because her latest work, Dangerous Game, had received a scathing review in the New York Times. Luckily, Stephen and Lynn insisted she remain with OOTI, and the rest is history!!!

Reviews/Articles

Once On This Island Original Broadway Cast Reunion-- Program Notes. Ira Weitzman, 2002.

Reunion Concert Program Notes

Once On This Island-- Broadway Souveir Program Notes. Lynn Ahrens, 1990.

Program Notes

Once On This Island London Program Notes
Once On This Island London Cast Recording Liner Notes, Jay Records, 1997
Liner Notes
"Island Adventure: Lynn Ahrens on the trip from workshops to Broadway". Backstage. October 19, 1990. Volume 31, no. 42, p. 15.
Read this article
"Finny Girl": Mermaid's a muse to many a musical" Dallas Morning News, 1997.
Read this article
" 'Island' Musical Theater Duo Find Their Future Anything but Deserted. " Washington Times. May 24, 1992. p. D1