For these ‘Once On This Island’ leads, no textbook, ‘vanilla’ acting will do

The cast of “Once on this Island” Manila. Image: Courtesy of 9 Works Theatrical

For the leads of the Manila run of “Once on This Island,” telling the story of a fairytale-like love is not new to them. But what makes the Stephen Flaherty-helmed musical captivating is how it turns the innocence of love into a force that inspires to hold on to hope.

A Caribbean retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” the musical tells the story of a peasant girl named Ti Moune who falls in love with an upper-class man named Daniel Beauxhomme. She then made a deal with the gods to protect his life.

It was first staged on Broadway in 1990 before it was restaged in various productions through the years. Among the biggest names who have starred in the musical are Lea Salonga (Erzulie, 2017); LaChanze (TiMoune, 1990); and Tamyra Gray (Papa Ge, 2019), to name a few.

The original storyline describes Daniel as some sort of a prince. But for Sam Concepcion and Jef Flores, who will alternate for the role, they didn’t want to portray him as a “vanilla” prince.

“I’ve been thinking really hard about that. Daniel is a prince. He can be a standard prince, but I want him to be a real person. I’m trying to experiment with personality types through astrology signs. Let’s see if anything sticks,” Flores told reporters on the sidelines of the musical’s rehearsal session.

Concepcion doesn’t want viewers to see his portrayal of Daniel as the “textbook prince” as well. “He can be vanilla or a prince who just sings beautiful songs. But it’s right to make him more human. He shouldn’t be on the textbook side.”

Sam Concepcion and Thea Astley. Image: Courtesy of 9 Works Theatrical

“I’m still in the process of discovering who Daniel is to me,” he continued. “But, I think it’s going to be different depending on who the Ti Moune is.”

Touching on the musical’s theme, Concepcion and Flores believe love is more than just romantic love. It has different forms and can propel someone to fulfill their purpose.

“It’s one of my favorite themes. [In the musical, it showed that] it can be the love of a parent to their child. There’s a scene in this beautiful song about the two parents who decided to let their child go, make her own decisions, and carve her way into the world. I feel that, and they do it beautifully,” Concepcion said.

“The second is the general theme of love being greater than anything else,” he further added.

Flores, on the other hand, said love is wonderful. But it usually doesn’t translate into a successful relationship.

“Love and passion are wonderful driving feelings, but it necessarily doesn’t make a relationship work. You can be deeply in love and still fall flat on your face,” he said.

Portraying love

Angela Ken and Thea Astley — who stars as the Ti Mounes — note their character’s determination to prove her love for Daniel. For Ken, love can be a driving force to change her life, but it is a reminder to be mindful of themselves as well.

“Ti Moune is willing to fight for her love until her last breath. In my case, I want to love strongly too. I want to be sure of my love,” Ken said. “I believe that’s what I can relate to. But Ti Moune taught me to be a risk-taker. She’s focused too, focused in the sense that knows what she sets her mind to.”

Angela Ken and Jef Flores. Image: Courtesy of 9 Works Theatrical

Ken also believes that “Once on This Island” tells the story of hope. “It’s hard to achieve. Even if people tell us to not lose hope, it’s easier said than done,” she said, admitting that she has a lot to learn from Ti Moune when it comes to being hopeful.

“Even a sprinkle of hope can change your life for the better. And this show is full of it. I’m sure the viewers will see it feel that same kind of hope too,” she continued.

Meanwhile, Astley said Ti Moune is a character who taught her to defy beauty standards. “I can never fully claim to know the experience of Ti Moune and the peasants, but I know what it’s like to be looked down upon.”

“When I was in elementary, I would iron my hair to be seen as beautiful,” she continued. Commercials would describe a beautiful girl as someone with fair skin and straight, black hair. But [as a morena with curly hair], I believe we progressed on how we view beauty.”

The actress also admitted that Ti Moune is a dream role, having seen the musical on Broadway sometime in 2017 or 2018.

“It was the moment I fell madly in love with the musical. When I came back to the Philippines, I was in my first year in Ateneo and I tried for Ateneo Repertory. I auditioned with ‘Waiting for Life’ from the musical. This is really a dream role for me. It was a full circle for me to do this,” she said.

The musical will be staged from Sept. 6 to 29 at the RCBC Plaza. Also part of the cast are Lorenz Martinez, Garrett Bolden, Radha, Shiela Valderrama-Martinez, and Jasmine Fitzgerald, to name a few.