Calypso-flavored ‘Little Mermaid’ plays at YAI
By Elyse Kaner
Staff Writer
Four area students will be take the stage this weekend for a rarely seen musical “Once On This Island Jr.” at The Neighborhood House Theater in St. Paul.
Sisters Solana Reyes, a ninth-grader, left, and Harley Reyes, a sixth-grader, of East Bethel are cast members in YAI’s Summer Theater Experience production of “Once On This Island, Jr.” Photo submitted
Solana and Harley Reyes of East Bethel and Anoka Middle School Alumni Malick Ceesay and Courtnie Dritz have been cast in the Young Artists Initiative’s Summer Theater Experience production as part of a non-auditioning, five-week workshop.
“The production aspects are beautiful. Even in rehearsal I’m getting goose bumps,” said Benjamin Lacina, music director and lighting director of the show and co-producer of YAI along with Anoka Middle School for the Art’s theater teacher Jefferson Fietek.
Krystle Igbo-Ogbonna directs.
The Broadway musical, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, is a calypso-flavored retelling of the “Little Mermaid” story. Set on a Caribbean island divided by social prejudice, the plot centers on Ti Moune, a peasant girl, who falls in love with Daniel, an upper class boy whose life she saves after a car crash. The production is based on the novel “My Love, My Love” by Rosa Guy.
The story is unique in that it is told through singing and dancing interwoven with dialogue among each song. The 34 actors also embody elements of the story, including storms, the sea, vehicles and island animals, Lacina said.
The show, with hints of the “Romeo and Juliet”story, is produced by an all-youth cast.
In it’s eighth year, YAI was the recipient of the Ordway Center Educational Award for Community Commitment and the nationally awarded Emma Award for outstanding non-profit organization. Lacina and Fietek are founders of the company.
YAI strives to make the arts accessible to all young people regardless of their race, beliefs or economic status.
Young Artists Initiative presents
“Once on this Island Jr.”
Directed by Krystle Igbo-Ogbonna
Aug 11, 12, 13, 7:30 p.m.; Aug 13 & 14, 2 p.m.
Adults $8, seniors/students $5
The Neighborhood House Theater at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center
179 Robie St. E., St. Paul
For more info visit www.youngartistsmn.org or call 651-222-5437
Elyse Kaner is at elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com
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