Audiences will go on a Caribbean adventure with Mainstage Center for the Arts July 12–14
Sicklerville’s Kristin Bassi brings Papa Ge — the Demon of Death — to life on stage in Mainstage Center for the Arts’ production of “Once on This Island, Jr.,” a musical twist on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Little Mermaid.” The show will be performed from July 12 to 14 at Camden Count College’s Dennis Flyer Theatre. Sicklerville residents Essence Gandy and Kaitly Hackett are also storytellers in the production.
Featuring almost non-stop song and dance, “Once on This Island, Jr.” will delight audiences of all ages. The production is sponsored by Precision Power Wash and First Bank. It kicks off the Summer Stage Children’s Theatre season and will include festive activities on opening night including cold samples from Starbucks at the Gloucester Premium Outlets, children’s science games by Challenge Island, and one lucky audience member will be randomly selected to win a basket of “island-themed” prizes.
“Once on This Island, Jr.,” written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, tells the story of Ti Moune (Anaya Colon of Cherry Hill as Big Ti Moune and Jayla Ortiz of Laurel Springs as Little Ti Moune), a peasant girl who rescues and falls in love with Daniel (Charlie Bell of Somerdale/Gloucester Township), a young man from a wealthy family. Central to the story are four gods: Asaka, Mother of the Earth (Nadia Parker of Monroeville); Agwé, god of Water (Laura Ahern of Somerdale/Gloucester Township); Erzulie, goddess of Love (Lauren Pluta of Runnemede); and Papa Ge, Demon of Death. The peasants believe the gods rule their lives. These gods guide Ti Moune on a quest to test the strength of her love against the powerful forces of prejudice, hatred and death.
“My sister was in ‘Once on this Island’ years ago and it was the first Summer Stage show I ever watched. I’ve always thought the gods were cool characters. I like how they manipulate the show,” Bassi said. “I play Papa Ge, who is the god of Death. It’s fun to play an evil character, and something I’ve never done before.”
Additional characters include Andrea Devereaux (Nicole Duffy of Williamstown), Daniel’s Mother (Rachel Campbell of Deptford), five storytellers (Jenna Byrzewski of Westville, Angelina Canavan of Glassboro, Carleigh Cusick of Washington Township, Diana Pinolini of Glendora, Gandy and Hackett), Little Girl (Claire Corriveau of Plansboro) and the Gatekeeper (John Koza of Mantua). In addition there are 45 cast members who are featured dancers, ensemble members, and soloists.
MCA’s “Once on This Island, Jr.” is directed by Grace Szcepkowski of Marlton.
“This story is so special to me, I love how it is about passing on a story of overcoming adversity and following your dreams to the younger generation. The music is beautiful; almost every line from the show is meaningful enough to stand on its own,” said Szczepkowski. “Also, while we are doing this show we are also trying to educate our cast about global issues that connect to this story. We have a plastic and paper repurposing station set up in our trailer where we can dump leftover paper and plastics to use when we need to make props. We have a fact board about environmental issues and about Haiti which is where our story takes place.”
“Once on this Island, Jr.” runs July 12 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. and July 14 at 10:30 a.m. in the fully-accessible Dennis Flyer Theatre, Camden County College, 200 College Drive, Blackwood. The Children’s Theatre season also includes “The Lion King, Jr.” from July 19–21, “Elf, Jr.” from July 26–28, and “Broadway for Kids” from Aug. 2–4. Ticket prices are $12 for ages 12 and above and $10 for students under 12. To purchase tickets visit www.mainstage.org or call (856) 227–3091.
In addition to the Children’s Theatre Season, MCA will present its annual summer Mainstage production, “Grease,” on July 22, 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. and July 23 at 2 p.m. The Summer Stage Apprentice program for fourth and fifth graders will present “The Jungle Book Kids” and “The Aristocats Kids” on Aug. 6. Also the Video Film Production students will present their own original short films in a Film Premier on Friday, Aug. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
