Polk County Education
16A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 2, 2016
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
The cast of “Once on this Island” dances together in the opening number. The musical is packed full of lively musical numbers and dances, and opens Friday at 7:30 p.m.
ON THIS ISLAND, WE TELL THE STORY
Central High presents ‘Once on this Island,’ a tale of the strength of love versus the power of death
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
Shake the winter blues by
taking a short trip to the is-
lands with Central High’s
performance of “Once on
this Island,” which opens
Friday night at 7:30.
The musical is light-
hearted and fun, said direc-
tor Wendy Boyack.
“It has that Caribbean
kind of feel to it, and gave a
lot of … the younger kids the
opportunity to move into
important roles,” she said.
The show is written for as
few as 12 people, but gives
the directors the liberty to
tell the story with more.
With a strong group of sen-
iors graduating this year,
Boyack said the play offered
a great chance for younger
actors to prepare to fill those
shoes.
“Once on this Island” is a
sort of island fairy tale,
telling the story of Ti Moune,
a young girl who lives in the
peasant world, played by
Hannah Boyack. But she has
bigger dreams.
“I think it’s a show with a
really good message about
the strength and testament
of love and friendship and
commitment,” said Forrest
Deters, who plays Papa Ge,
sly demon of death.
Ti Moune sets out to
prove the power of love in
the face of death, guided by
the four gods of the island:
Erzulie, beautiful goddess of
love, Agwe, god of water,
Asaka, mother of the earth
and Papa Ge.
The show, which com-
bines a lot of dancing with
singing, was challenging for
the young actors in various
ways. One is the costumes
the gods will wear, with large
masks making movement
tricky.
“My song in particular is
really hard because I hold
lots of long notes,” said
Dylan Lewis, who plays
Agwe. “Because I’m the god
of water, I’m kind of like an
octopus, so all of my move-
ments have to flow and in-
volve major movement of
the arms, torso, all while
holding notes and singing.”
Reba Hoffman, aka
Erzulie, said constant sway-
ing of the hips has built up
muscles in places she didn’t
realize she had them.
“My hips actually have
muscle now,” she said. “The
first couple days, I was super
sore.”
The movement has also
been challenging for Abby
Miller, who plays Asaka. At
first, she pictured the moth-
er of earth as a regal queen,
but was told she needed to
play the role more down to
earth — literally.
“My character’s supposed
to be squatting the entire
time,” she said, “like you’re
harvesting wheat or giving
birth.”
As of Thursday’s rehears-
al, the four students who
play the gods were still
working out how to move
with the masks and polish-
ing up their performance.
Deters, who usually plays
a good guy in Central’s per-
formances, is enjoying the
role of the “bad guy.”
“This is a kind of role I
haven’t been able to play be-
fore,” he said. “It’s just really
fun to not have to be doing
the right thing the whole
time. That’s not to say my
character is mean or evil,
he’s just doing his job — and
he likes his job.”
It’s the gods’ job to be the
story tellers, sort of pup-
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
The gods, played by Reba Hoffman, Dylan Lews, Forrest Deters and Abby Miller, laugh
about Ti Moune’s (Hannah Boyack, not pictured) desire for love and adventure.
peteers, Hoffman said.
Indeed, it is the gods who
start Ti Moune out on her
journey, from the moment
she meets Daniel, a boy
from the other side of the is-
land of wealthy heritage.
The play combines classic
fairy tale concepts: girl
meets boy, they fall in love
and meet with conflict.
It is a sort of Romeo and
Juliet meets the Little Mer-
maid by Hans Christian An-
derson and addresses some
serious topics about the
class divide in a warm, light-
hearted way.
The sense of fun is never
lost through the beautiful
Live the island story
What: Central High School’s production of “Once on this
Island.”
When: Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30
p.m.; March 10, 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Central High School auditorium, 1530 Mon-
mouth St., Independence.
Admission: Adults, $8; students $5 with ID; student
night special on March 10, $3.
Of note: The story of Ti Moune is a warm, heartfelt story
appropriate for people of all ages. The play has a later than
normal start time, but is also a short production, lasting
about 80 minutes.
For more information: chsperformingarts.org.
music and dancing — and
the sense of humor of the
gods.
It’s a short play, just about
80 minutes long, and a
bonus to the Central Per-
forming Arts schedule, said
co-director Jeff Witt.
SCHOOL NOTES
‘Kids in Science’ returns this spring
DALLAS — A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village will ofer six weeks of
Kids in Science at Lyle Elementary School starting on March 30.
The after-school class is open to students in kindergarten
through third grade and is limited to 30 students. The cost is $37.
Students will explore physics, biology, engineering and tech-
nology through building their own inventions and hands-on activ-
ities.
The classes are Wednesdays from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. No trans-
portation is available.
For more information: 503-623-8367.
Visit us online at: www.polkio.com
DALLAS 121 Main St. • 503-623-8155
INDEPENDENCE 1710 Monmouth St. • 503-838-6340
Mon-Fri 8AM - 6PM • Sat 8AM - 5PM
Prices good through
March 2, 2016