Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Once On This Island Turns 35

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are having quite a season with the rapturous reception for the Broadway revival of Ragtime. But it's easy to forget that 35 years ago—before Ragtime, Anastasia, and Seussical—this musical-theatre duo were Broadway newcomers. And their Broadway debut: Once on This Island, a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid but set on a fictitious Caribbean island.

The idea first came from Ahrens via a book in a used book store: My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl by Rosa Guy. Opening it, Ahrens was struck by the opening lines: "There is an island where rivers run deep, where the seas sparking in the sun earns the name, 'jewel of the Antilles.'" She immediately thought: "It's a musical! Because the language was so beautiful." She bought the book for $1.50, read it in an hour, then rushed over to Flaherty's apartment in a cab.

Then, over the course of six months, the two wrote the entirety of Once on This Island, the story of a dark-skinned peasant girl named Ti Moune, who falls in love with the light-skinned and rich Daniel. When a storm strikes the island and Daniel is on the verge of death, Ti Moune makes a deal with the gods to exchange his life for hers. Though the story, like the original Little Mermaid, does not end happily, Ti Moune's selflessness and sacrifice eventually makes her a legend within her community.

Ahrens wrote the book and lyrics while Flaherty's score combined influences from Afro-Caribbean and South American musical traditions, with songs such as "Mama Will Provide," "Waiting for Life," and "The Human Heart."

The show was originally staged Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in May 1990, before transferring to Broadway's Booth Theatre. A young, up-and-coming actor played Ti Moune. She had been in Dreamgirls, but Once on This Island was her first time originating a lead role in a Broadway show. The actor's name was LaChanze. Kecia Lewis played the god Asaka, who guides Ti Moune on her journey. The production ran over a year, with 469 performances, and was nominated for eight Tony Awards (it won none).

Once on This Island had a West End production in 1994 (with Sharon D. Clarke as Asaka). It was revived on Broadway at Circle in the Square in 2017, with Hailey Kilgore as Ti Moune and Alex Newell as Asaka. The production, which used live animals onstage, won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

On the occasion of the 2017 revival, Ahrens and Flaherty told Playbill why they thought Once on This Island continues to endure: "How can a community come together after a tragedy? How can we create beauty out of destruction? How can we turn the things that befall us into stories that will help us understand one another? In today’s brave new world, fraught with divisions of race and class, subject to natural and man-made disasters, the story of Once On This Island seems to matter now more than ever."

Look back on the original and revival productions of Once on This Island on Broadway below.

Look Back at the Original and Revival Broadway Productions of Once on This Island

Once On This Island Broadway Production Photos 1990 LaChanze HR — Look Back at the Original and Revival Broadway Productions of Once on This Island

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Once On This Island Broadway Production Photos 1990 HR — Company of *Once on This Island*

Martha Swope

Once On This Island Broadway Production Photos 1990 Eric Riley HR — Eric Riley in *Once on This Island*

Martha Swope

Once On This Island Broadway Production Photos 1990 Kecia Lewis HR — Kecia Lewis and company of *Once on This Island*

Martha Swope

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