ONCE ON THIS ISLAND
by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
Produced by Weathervane Theatre Co., August 2013.
Directed by Jacques Stewart
Sound Design by Tony Tambasco
Cast
Agwe .... Robert H. Fowler*
Asaka .... Nicole Lewis*
Daniel .... Schyler Conaway*
Erzulie .... Claire Neumann*
Mama Euralie .... Mary Lee Marson-Aloia*
Papa Ge .... Paris Nix*
Ti Moune .... Tanesha Ross*
Tonton Julian .... Andrew Foote*
Andrea .... Liz Schivener*
Armand .... Robert Koutras*
Band
Conductor / Piano .... Colin Keating
Keys .... Paul Marszalkowski
Guitar .... Mark Sundermeyer
Bass .... Ross Krater
Drums .... Andrew Short
Reed .... Alyssa Comeau
Crew
Director / Choreographer .... Jacques Stewart
Musical Director .... Colin Keating
Asst. Musical Director .... Paul Marszalkowski
Production Stage Manager .... Brendan O'Brien*
Stage Manager .... Julianne Menassian*
Sound Designer .... Tony Tambasco
Dance Captain .... John Watson Stewart*
Scenic Designer .... Gibbs Murray and Radha Vakharia
Costume Designer .... Rien Schlecht
Lighting Designer .... William Joseph Gibbons-Brown
Props Master .... Stephanie Meraz
Technical Director .... Bethany Taylor
Producing Artistic Director .... Jacques Stewart
When I sign on to work with a company for a season, there's usually one show in particular that I'm most looking forward to working on and / or seeing, and this season it was Once on this Island. I've wanted to see a production of it for a long time now, ever since accidentally hearing the soundtrack from a neighbor's dorm room when I was a sophomore at SUNY Potsdam, but I've never had the chance. Working on the show with a director who knows and loves the piece as well as Jacques Stewart does was a treat, and since it was the last show in the season, I went into it with the belief that my knowledge of the acoustics of the space, nuances of the actors voices, and particulars of the sound equipment would be as perfect as they would be, and this would be the most effortlessly perfect mix I turned in this season. Reality was a little bit different.
Once again, the band was moved on stage up-center, but this time under the balcony, which shaped the live sound in a new way. In addition, the ensemble was omni present on stage, and principal performers in the ensemble routinely and quickly would step out of the ensemble to become a featured story-teller or character in the story, sometimes for the space of a single line. Once on this Island appeared simple, but by the end of our technical rehearsal, I appreciated that our staging of it would require a level of awareness of instrument reinforcement, area microphone reinforcement, and body mic reinforcement that was several steps above and beyond what the other shows that season had asked of me. Given our tech/dress and repertory schedule, my knowledge of how to mix the show would largely come from experience in front of an audience, which is never anyone's ideal.
Fortunately, I've always been a quick study, and in short order I discovered how to bring the spiritual, passionate music of Once on this Island to life on the Weathervane stage as I'd always heard it in my heart. Ahrens' and Flaherty's work is truly magical in the right hands, and I'm pleased to have been able to do my part in bringing that magic to life.
Blog: "Once on this Island: Modern Antique Theatre" The Adventures of Tony. In this post, I blogged about some of the classical influences on Once on this Island.
Design Plates
Sound
Plot
Signal
Flow
