More than once on this island
May 23, 2005 | 12:00am
Press nights imply horrific critics and reviews. It comes right before opening night, which is fierce enough, and when the artists are barely prepared, confident or secure in their roles. They perform during a dress/tech rehearsal in revolting stress and before an audience that can destroy their careers forever. So when I went to see Once on This Island on press night, I knew what the cast and crew were going through.
The musical is so charming though that the most exacting critic will leave the theater beguiled, what with this version’s powerhouse cast and creative staff. It is a formula story – poor-girl-falls-in-love-with-rich-boy – with gods, peasants and landlords fenced in a Caribbean island and its inclement weather, gossip and lethargic dreams. The cast functions as the narrators and characters themselves in a vortex of song and dance, all under the helm of director Bart Guingona, musical director Rony Fortich and choreographer Denisa Reyes.
Once On This Island came out of an original story written by Trinidadian author, Rosa Guy, for a children’s book, My Love, My Love. In their collaborative translation of the book, composer Stephen Flaherty and librettist Lynn Ahrens captured the milieu with their riveting songs and script earning London’s 1995 Olivier Award as best musical and receiving eight Tony nominations, including best score and best book with their work.
The main character, Ti Moune, is washed ashore as a child by a great flood into the arms of loving adoptive parents, Tonton Julian (Bodjie Pascua) and Mama Euralie (May Bayot) but not before her fate is calculated heavily by four gods. Asaka, Earth (Bituin Escalante); Erzulie, Love (Menchu Lauchengko); Agwe, Water (Michael Williams); and Papa Ge, Death (Jett Pangan) discuss her destiny in a pervading atmosphere of competition.
The youthful Ti Moune (Gala Angeni Sanchez) transforms into a beautiful woman (Raki Vega). Working in the fields, she sees the rich and handsome Daniel (Jeffrey Hidalgo) and, falling in love, pleads the gods for her promised kismet. The gods consent but with a high stake. In her journey to the future, she will have to prove who is the more powerful god: Love or Death.
A heavy rain, set off by Agwe, causes Daniel a terrible car accident. Ti Moune comes to his rescue but her obsession for him gives unexpected doom. He belongs to the French Beauxhomme aristocracy while she is a mere peasant girl. Her passion cannot dispute a wedding vow – Daniel and Andrea (Cathy Azanza), also an aristocrat, are bound for marriage since childhood. Ti Moune is the girl one loves but Andrea is the girl one marries… so Daniel sings.
The god of Death steps in to remind Ti Moune of her lover’s betrayal. "Your life or his?" he asks her. Love wins. Ti Moune chooses to give up her life instead of taking Daniel’s. The goddess of the Earth then takes her to her bosom and lays her to rest. She turns into a beautiful tree giving love and shelter to the rich and poor alike… without end.
The Actors’ Actors Inc. version continues to mesmerize audiences with its unique appeal and charisma. Director Guingona’s work clearly shows a benevolent respect for the script, the score, the cast and his artistic staff. Even on that horrific press night, there were positive sensations that more than made up for the anticipated flaws. Guingona is an intelligent and sensitive director. He allows his artists to reach their fullest potential by giving them the respect they deserve.
Set designer Gino Gonzales’ huge bamboo screens offer the perfect canvas on which an artist can draw anything. Even a simple sketch on that canvas will produce a masterpiece at any time. The panel does flatten the space a bit but the simplicity of the design gives generous options to whoever wants to play with it. The bamboo motif is perfect for the setting and its changeable outline gives support to the various stories that unfold within the play. Gino is the designer after National Artist Salvador Bernal. This talented designer must continue to do musicals such as Once On This Island to build up his own body of works and earn more applaud.
A talented lighting designer like John Battalia would be the worst victim in the early stages of such a production. Because lights are at the bottom of the pressing list of production week to dos, he had the least time for technical adjustments. I did not feel the Carribean heat on that canvas in the crucial opening number. The lights were bland where it should have been spicy. I wish he had more time to work on his establishing lights to prepare the audience for the high temperature show ahead.
Denisa Reyes’ choreography was right on target, supportive and not calling attention to itself. In theater, the less people gush about the choreography the more successful it is – dance is painfully never the star. To put down the ego lid is difficult for choreographers like Reyes who has a list of contemporary works in major companies’ dance repertoire. What she failed to do though, was coach her actors in body posture. Since the costumes remain the same in every scene – except for a few characters – the depiction would be clearer if the actors have thematic movements as narrators, peasants, aristocrats, city folks, tourists or whatever it is they are portraying at a given moment.
In the Hotel Beauxhommes scene when they had to have the carriage of the French upper class, the performers still had the bearing of peasants. There is a big difference in the way each stratum of society even stands and not much attention was put into this. This confused the audience somewhat, with no costume change not helping at all. Cathy Azanza particularly needs to work on this as Andrea. A straight back and a long neck are needed to demonstrate aristocracy, the moneyed move slower, peasants move briskly, and so forth and so on.
Rony Fortich’s musical direction is excellent. The singing is first-rate and the singers, confident. What was bothersome that night was the volume of the live band. The low level sound diminished the oomph, especially in the finale number. Too bad. I could feel the audience wanting to spring up into a Caribbean dance but the music level pinned them down.
Bituin Escalante’s presence on stage explodes even before she sings and when she does sing, it’s pure dynamite. She is one of very few performers who can draw attention to herself effortlessly. What she has is personality, and personality comes when you believe in yourself and what you are doing. Confidence allows Bituin to seize that space like a brilliant star.
Any leading lady will crumble under the authority of a second lead Bituin but Raki Vega, as Ti Moune, surprising stands her ground. Not one to bask in the shadow of the one called Star, this young lady. She’s got the verve to match her chillingly dominant co-stars, she knows it, and fights back bravely. Gala Sanchez is the ideal adolescent for Raki’s ripened Ti Moune. She supplies the exact vitality and vulnerability as the young Ti Moune making it easy for Raki to develop the role instantly.
I wish I could say the same thing for Jeffrey Hidalgo as Daniel. Like Raki and Gala, he should absorb the expertise of the pros around him. His Daniel is too weak, almost forgettable. Any one with a face and body like that should go further so… fight back Jeffrey. You are too gorgeous to suffer such a letdown.
Menchu Lauchengco is another dynamite to reckon with although there is a slight difference. If Bituin is TNT, Menchu is a release of heavenly sparklers. Her voice is soothing, her acting honest. Even her dancing is so beautiful she might as well join a dance company. I could not keep my eyes off her as she meandered so splendidly on that stage with her sinewy figure and captivatingly graceful arms.
I can turn back into a child myself just to grab hold of Mama Euralie and Tonton Julian’s nurturing. That’s how convincing May Bayot and Bodjie Pascua are. They are a winning couple on stage, perfect for the role of the adoptive parents. The Ti Mounes must thank them for supplying that sense of endearment so vital for the portrayal of their youthful anguish and love.
Michael Williams’ godly voice failed to back his portrayal of the god role, Agwe. I wonder why. I am a big fan of Williams. He is usually more striking than that. I wanted more command from him in the company of Bituin and Menchu. Jett Pangan, as the god of Death, is an arresting figure on stage. Michael De Mesa was superb in his portrayal of Armand, Daniel’s father.
I cannot end this article without pointing out the people behind the production. Dodo Lim heads the crew as production manager, with Chie Villanueva, Barbie Tan-Tiongco, Voltaire Simon, Aries Alcayaga and the rest… they are the ones who do the dirty work but are never mentioned in reviews. Without the production staff the show like that will not go as successfully so congratulations to all of you for a job well done! Hopefully, the rest of the country sees this production. It is so Pinoy our islands should see it more than once.
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