Drama club to perform ‘Once On This Island’
Performances today and Saturday
TROY, N.Y. » The Troy High School Drama Club will bring audiences to the island this weekend with its spring production of “Once On This Island.”
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium located on the Troy Middle School/Troy High School campus at 1975 Burdett Ave. in Troy. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students.
More than 50 students will recreate “Once on this Island,” from the Tony-Award-winning team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. It’s a Caribbean adaptation of the popular fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.”
Set on an island in the French Antilles, 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.
The part of Ti Moune will be played by Troy High School junior Morgan Thomas. Daniel will be played by senior Oz McClamrock. Supporting actors include Jamia Robertson, Isaiah Allen, Charlotte Gates and Trey Hart as the four gods.
Director Tara Higgins-Pascucci said the spring performance is the highlight of the year. It is the culmination of four months of preparation including daily practices after school and weekly dance rehearsals with choreographer Marc de la Concha on Saturdays.
“Troy High School Drama Club is similar to being on a sports team with the amount of effort and dedication that is required,” she said. “This is our sectionals week.”
“There is very little spoken dialogue; most of it is sung while dancing,” she added “To pull that off requires tremendous effort on the part of our students. They’ve worked incredibly hard and have committed a lot of time and en- ergy.”
Additionally, for the first time the Troy High School Drama Club will be participating in the High School Musical Theater Awards on May 19 at Proctors in Schenectady.