Two seasons ago, Slow Burn Theatre almost produced the epic Stephen Flaherty-Lynn Ahrens musical, Ragtime, but COVID got in the way. Perhaps they will get back to that show one day, but fans of the songwriting team should be pleased with the company’s current musical offering, Once on this Island, a spirited tale of the power of love, class distinctions and godly interventions, all set to a calypso beat.
Based on Rosa Guy’s novel My Love, My Love, this simple fable is also a celebration of storytelling, for it has a framing device of a Caribbean community relating in song, and especially dance, the story of Ti Moune. She is a young girl orphaned by a storm, who grows up poor but happy, eager to find a purpose to her life. That soon arrives with Daniel, a fair-skinned mulatto of the wealthy Grandhommes who live on the other side of the island. They were never meant to meet, but when out joy-riding, Daniel crashes his sports car and is discovered, near death, by Ti Moune.
She not only devotes herself to nursing him back to health, but makes a pact with the death god, Papa Ge, to give up her life in exchange for Daniel’s. Naively, Ti Moune imagines a happily ever after with Daniel, but after arduously trekking across the island to be with him, she learns that he is already betrothed to a more suitable mate of his social station. Not only is Ti Moune’s love match not to be, but Papa Ge swoops in to collect her soul. The resolution of her story is surely one of the most surprising in all of musical theater.
Flaherty and Ahrens are chameleon-like in their approach to each of their projects. Once on this Island sounds nothing like Ragtime, Anastasia or any of their many other shows. Flaherty’s roots are Irish, yet he immerses himself here in the rich, pulsing beat of reggae, blended with a bit of pure Broadway. Ahrens can be exceedingly clever with wordplay – listen, for instance, to her lyrics for Seussical, the Musical – but here she opts for simple and direct poetry aimed straight for the heart.
To single out just a few, among the score’s more captivating tunes are Ti Moune’s want song (“Waiting for Life”), a lilting ballad (“The Human Heart”) and the maternal showstopper, “Mama Will Provide.”
The 90-minute, intermissionless show is an exercise in perpetual motion, which plays to the strengths of director Patrick Fitzwater. His staging ingenuity is boisterous, yet he, too, is foremost a storyteller, who renders the narrative with impressive clarity. He passes one of his usual hats of choreographer to company member Jerel Brown, who is more than up to the task of creating high-energy, high-stepping, character-rich dances.
Contributing considerably to the production’s impact is the lovely Brinie Wallace as Ti Moune, both a powerful singer and loose-limbed dancer. Jade Jones and Geoffrey Short are standouts as her wary adopted guardians, as is Kareema Khouri as the goddess Asaka, but the entire ensemble is a tireless asset.
Visually, the show is stunning, thanks to Cliff Price’s multi-tiered set, George Jackson’s flashy yet apt lighting and Lenora Nikitin’s have-and-have-nots costumes. Once on this Island is another solid winner for Slow Burn, which has become the premier company for musical theater in the region.
ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, Slow Burn Theatre Co. at The Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Through Sunday, Feb. 20. $49-$65. 954-468-2555 or visit www.slowburntheatre.org.