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By Pamela Rosen
Mission
San Jose High School in Fremont is one of the top schools in the country for its
academics, and it’s a national contender in science and math competitions. The kids at Mission are so busy, putting on a
musical there hasn’t been a priority. The last time Mission tried, they didn’t
have enough interest to even fill out the cast. Enter Tanya Roundy,
the new drama teacher at Mission, and the spring production of Once on this
Island.
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| Daniel Zopfi as Daniel and MC Mendonca as TiMoune in Mission San Jose High School's Once on This Island |
With Once on this Island, the 1991 Lynne Ahrens-Stephen Flaherty musical about a
peasant girl’s faith in love on a tropical island, Roundy was able to pull
together a large cast, many of whom are experiencing theatre for the first
time. The show is a good choice for Mission’s re-entry into the world of high
school theatre. Roundy employed 10 student choreographers, who brought their
friends into the show, and also rounded out the cast and crew with all of own
six children. She also brought in
six little girls under the age of 10 to expand the cast to full capacity.
Originally
written and cast along racial lines, the show can be tweaked to downplay the
racial elements and focus on multicultural themes. Because a large
majority of the cast comes from Asian or Indian backgrounds, the production at
Mission became an “Indian/Asian fusion,” according to Roundy, to celebrate and
reflect the culture of the school. The result is a rich pageant of colors,
textures, and sounds unlike anything one would expect from traditional high
school theatre.
The
story of Once on this Island can be confusing at times. It has elements
of the original Little Mermaid story, Romeo and Juliet, and pieces of Greek mythology blended
together in a modern tropical setting. Through a series of storytellers,
we come to know a peasant couple who rescue a small orphaned girl, TiMoune,
from a tree, where a storm had washed her. We also meet four
gods--Erzulie, the goddess of Love, Asaka, the goddess of Water, Agwe, the god
of Earth (played by the director’s son, freshman Josh Roundy), and Papa Ge, the
demon of Death, played by James Gao. They quarrel with each other and control
the fates of the peasants. Also on the island are the rich French
landowners, who control the tourism on the island.
The
gods create a storm, which causes a terrible automobile crash, and throws an
injured, unconscious young Frenchman directly into the arms of a now-grown TiMoune.
TiMoune feels that saving the life of this young man is the reason the gods
allowed her to be saved as a child, and, in nursing him to health, falls in
love with him. When Papa Ge comes to take the young man, TiMoune makes a
deal to trade her own life for his.
Here’s
where the story starts to get tricky. For some reason, Pap Ge allows both
TiMoune and the young man, Daniel Beauxhomme (played by Daniel Zopfi), to live,
but Daniel’s wealthy father Armand (played very regally by Sumedh Bhattacharya)
finds the boy and takes him back to the palatial hotel they own. TiMoune
decides, with the help of Erzulie, to travel to the other side of the island to
charm her way past the gates of the hotel and back to her Daniel, where she
reveals herself to him as his savior. Daniel has no memory of her, but
falls for her charms anyway. At a party at the hotel, TiMoune beguiles
the guests with her dancing. She quickly meets Andrea Deveraux, (played by
Lynnea Shuck, who shares the role with Ahsas Sood), and learns that she is the
fiancée Daniel has failed to mention. Papa Ge returns and offers TiMoune
her life back if she will kill Daniel, and TiMoune is left with a terrible
choice.
The
cast is strongest and most confident as an ensemble, though a few featured
performers stand out. Leena Yin as Mama Euralie, Ti Moune’s mother, has a
strong presence and a commanding voice, and her performance is lovely. She
shares the role with Lucy Shen. James
Gao as Papa Ge, Shivani Ariathurai as Asaka, and Soukhya Inamdar as Erzulie
each deliver memorable performances with solid singing voices. Pretty MC
Mendonca, who shares the role of TiMoune with Gelsey Plaza, is lithe and
charming. The small orchestra is spot-on, with never a sour note.
It’s a
good first effort for a school that hasn’t had a theatre department for a while.
Seeing the arts coming back to the schools always gladdens the heart, and with
this colorful, sparkly production, Roundy can reach other students, pique
interests, and start to rebuild Mission San Jose’s arts program.
Once on This Island continues this weekend, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Mission San Jose High School, 41717 Palm Avenue, Fremont, CA Tickets are available at: http://www.showtix4u.com/index_classic.php?search=ca
