Once On This Island

Six summers of spectacular award-winning summer musicals and we are still going strong! "Les Miserables" (summer 2013 at Yardley Hall), "Big River" (summer 2014 at The Kauffman Center, winner of 6 International Music & Entertainment Association (IMEA) Awards, including Best Musical and Best Director), "Into the Woods" (summer 2015 at Yardley Hall, winner of 3 IMEA Awards), "Big Fish" (summer 2016 at The Kauffman Center, winner of 2 IMEA Awards), "Jesus Christ Superstar" (summer 2017 at Polsky Theatre, winner of 2 IMEA Awards, including Best Director), and our biggest and grandest show to date, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (summer 2018 at Yardley Hall). Be a part of our incredible summer tradition and help us "TELL THE STORY"!

From the Tony Award-winning songwriting team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Seussical, Ragtime), comes the Olivier Award-winning "Once on This Island". This highly original and theatrical Caribbean adaptation of the popular fairy tale, "The Little Mermaid", garnered eight Tony nominations in 1991 for its original Broadway run, including Best Musical, Book and Score. In 2018, the Broadway revival production was nominated for eight Tony Awards and won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

Ti Moune, a peasant girl, rescues a wealthy boy from the other side of the island, Daniel, with whom she falls in love. Unbeknownst to Ti Moune, the pompous gods who preside over the island make a bet with one another over which is stronger, love or death, the stakes being Ti Moune's life. When she pursues Daniel, who has returned to his people, Ti Moune is shunned because of her lowly status. Her determination and capacity to love, though, is not enough to win Daniel's heart, and Ti Moune pays the ultimate price; but the gods turn Ti Moune into a tree that grows so strong and so tall, it breaks the wall that separates the societies and ultimately unites them.

Performances (at Kauffman Center): July 19th @ 7pm, July 20th @ 1pm & 7pm