“Once On This Island” is coming soon!

Musicals are a wonderful way to bring people together. Whether you act in them or watch them, they are entertaining, fun, and a great way to show your talent. From Broadway premieres to high school productions, it takes hard work and dedication to pull the show together. Speaking of high school productions, North High School has a Drama Club of its own, performing our rendition of “Once On This Island.”

“Once On This Island” takes place in the French Antilles, specifically Haiti. Two kinds of people live on this island: peasants, who live off the mercy of the gods and grand hommes, wealthy French people who reside on the other side of the island with fancy cars, houses, and lives. “Once on This Island” stars Ti Moune, an orphan adopted by Mama Euralie and Tonton Julien. As Ti Moune grows older, she longs for a grand homme to marry her. The girl’s prayer makes two of the gods, Papa Ge and Ezrulie, make a bet. Ezrulie, Goddess of love, takes on that love is stronger than death; Papa Ge, the demon of death, takes the opposite view. This lays the pathway to the rest of the musical. This musical’s central theme is classism. Ti Moune cannot marry a grand homme because she is a peasant, but she is determined to try.

I thought I was not going to like this musical, but I was mistaken. It has fantastic songs, and after just the first listen, you will fall in love. Of many of the productions I’ve watched, all the diverse ways these characters were portrayed had me mesmerized. I could feel how each character felt just through the way they sang or presented themselves. Though this show may be one act, I feel like with North’s talented cast, the experience and creativity of our directors, and the behind-the-scenes work of our stage crew, this show will be a fantastic success. Listen for the annoucements and check the North High School Teams page for information about dates, times, and tickets!