<p>Hey everyone. First I’d like to say sorry for not spending too much time on this thread as I have in the past. College-stuff got crazy, but if you didn’t know already, I was accepted into Brown University early decision! So yes, I was on that message board area for a while, but now that I’m in and I can worry less about “my stats” etc… I can now spend more time with my first family… aka the MT board :-)</p>
<p>To keep you updated, I have been chosen to direct my student-show this year, and I was really unsure about what to do. After viewing approximately 10-15 shows, I came down to a few I really liked, and then one I REALLLLLY LOVVEEDD… which is now our senior show - Once on This Island. I have already spoken to a few people on CC about this show, and some are being absolutely incredibly nice by giving me some resources I can use to help with direction. The show isn’t until April, but I figured I would start early and focus my mind on the show ASAP. So my question for you guys is if you could give me any information about the show - not the basics, stuff you would want to see from this show. For example - if you saw the show done multiple times, what do you think made one experience better than the other? Any input would be appreciated!! Thanks again!</p>
<p>i was just in OOTI (i played asaka)!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the show.</p>
<p>my biggest advice is to make sure the gods come across as godly, not as humans pretending to be gods. i know, it sounds obviously, but it’s really not. in the show i was in, the director chose to have the gods on stage for virtually the whole show (we had a large ensemble that served as story tellers, we didn’t use a small cast), and would watch and “direct” actions that had to do with what their god was in charge of.</p>
<p>for example, in “pray”, when tonton julian is singing about going on the journey to find where daniel comes from and he comes to the decision that he will in fact go, i made the decision one day to point to the side of the stage where he exited. the director loved it and told me to keep it in, and i actually got comments from audience members about how they loved the gesture and what it represented.</p>
<p>basically, if it isn’t made clear that the gods are, in fact, GODS, the story will not make any sense at all.</p>
<p>good luck with directing, and if you have any more specific quesitons, feel free to pm me :)</p>
<p>Sporti - what were your costumes like, and how did your cast find them for each character? also - could you describe your scenery, or at least, the most important aspects of the scenery you think worked/didn’t work?</p>
<p>Matt, the videos of the two different productions of OOTI my daughter was in should arrive at your house tomorrow. I think you will see two different stagings and that will give you some ideas of the possibilities. This is a musical that needs very little scenery, though lots could be done with lighting. You will see two different interpretations of how the Gods were dressed as well. In the younger show I sent you, the Gods had masks and much more of a “costume” and in the college show I sent you, you will see that the Gods had clothing on that suggested the characters…you’ll see what I mean when you watch it. You will see in the college production, the Gods were represented by these huge masks on poles…that was the scenery and those were movable. The other show’s scenery was more of a backdrop and levels of the staging. I think besides the obvious age difference in the two productions, both were on different sized stages and also costumed differently and because of the two variations, it will give you more thought to the ways of interpretting the show. Besides the two times my daughter was in this show, once as Little Ti Moune and once as Ti Moune, I have seen it a third time done by middle school aged kids in the Caribean which was very interesting to see it actually IN the West Indies. Again hardly any scenery. You can have colorful “peasant” costumes, with a Caribbean flare. This is a great musical, wonderful songs, lots of opportunities for various people to solo, as well as constant stage time for ensemble. You will notice that in the college production, Little Ti Moune did more than in the younger cast I sent you. Little Ti Moune was the little girl they were telling the story to and they utilized her a lot. There is leeway in this show with some things. I think you will have some good ideas once you watch both DVDs. Enjoy.
Susan</p>
<p>I have seen two very different productions. Both were by youth theater groups; one cast had children ages 8-13, the other mostly teens. Neither production used masks or puppets for the Gods. However, Venetian-type masks (grotesques) were used in the “Bonhomme” dance in the older teen show. The Gods were dressed in tribal attire with face paint. In one of the productions (the older one) the Gods ‘appeared’ from out of the chorus by donning their costumes in front of the audience. That was effective b/c they were able to mysteriously weave in and out of the story. Some storytellers (chorus) also played drums, recorders, etc. and ‘built’ the set from modular pieces of organic objects (can’t remember what) scattered about the stage. To make the ‘rain’, two storytellers help big bamboo-like poles with a circle at the top (like a giant bubble wand). To this wand, giant strings of mylar were attached. When the actors waved the wand over Ti Moune, it was very effective. For thunder, other actors used a home made device that when shook, made crashing sounds. Other actors had rain sticks.
In the younger production, the kids became jungle animals, a car, the doors of the palace and formed a human tree with Ti Moune at the top. The storytellers dressed in vivid jungle colors, which contrasted with the pale cream palette of Daniel and his wealthy parents.</p>
<p>Because OOTI is a fable, you really have a lot of leg room. If you haven’t done this already, I would search the internet for production photos. Trust me, you’ll find many! This will help cement a concept, or vision in your mind. Have a blast!</p>
<p>That reminds me of one thing in the college production my D was in…for the rain, they had these umbrellas and hanging off the rim of every umbrella were long strands of mylar! </p>
<p>You are right that this is a show that has lots of leg room to do it different ways. I think Matt will have fun with it.</p>
<p>i’m at home for winter break now, so i can’t do it for a little while, but i would be glad to send you some pictures from the production i was in when i get back to school if you’d like. it would be really hard to describe my costume and the scenery, etc.</p>