This year’s musical attempted to transport its audience to paradise during the cold weather. On March 13-16, both high schools joined together to sing and dance in, Once on This Island. The lead roles, Ti Moune and Daniel, were both played by North students.

“Honestly, I adored this show and this character. The show was so full of joy and magic and beautiful,and relatable moments. I’ was very excited to give the audience such a touching story in the hopes that it reminds people of the true power and love and compassion and forgiveness,” said senior Pauline Moll who played Ti Moune.

Sophomore Kyle Fisher played the male lead, Daniel.

“I would describe Daniel as a typical rich French guy who only cares about himself, but then I think he turns into a very compassionate, loving soul towards himself and later Ti Moune,” he said.

With rehearsals almost every day after school and on Saturdays, there was plenty of time to prepare. The show was directed by Maureen Ritter from Central, and the technical director was Teslen Sadowski. Paul Nielsen was vocal director, and Cher Schwartz was choreographer.

“Any given rehearsal was filled with acting, singing, and dancing. We warmed up our voices with Mr. Nielsen and our bodies with Mrs. Schwartz. Then, we all worked together to put the vocals and choreography on stage,” Moll said. “It’s a lot of trial and error, and we changed the blocking and choreography all the time. It was all to make sure we tell the story in the most effective way possible.”

It was also necessary for the actors to work outside of the rehearsal setting.

“I practiced my music at my keyboard and with my RehearScore, and my mom ran lines with me. I also did a lot of character work: journaled about Ti Moune, discussed with Ms. Ritter and Kyle. We talked a lot about the relationship between Ti Moune and Daniel and really analyzed the script,” Moll said.

Fisher also prepared throughout the last couple of months.

“I went over all the songs, and I even made a CD so I can listen to the music in the car,” he said.

Besides the actors, the technicians for the show were also busy. In total, they put in 140 hours to ensure the set was ready.

“A lot of set design was done by the stage craft classes. Then, we worked to build those designs into the set. At the end, we were mainly concerned about finishing touches and fun elements,” Sadowski said.        “We had jungle flats that hung to create a jungle setting and a tropical place with flowers, color, and pizzazz.”

At the end of all the hard work, there were high hopes for the performance.

“The show is so happy—the music is upbeat, and it’s something different than we’ve ever done before,” Sadowski said. “We hope the audience doesn’t feel anything but happiness.”

Though the name did not sell itself like last year’s The Wizard of Oz, the turnout to the performances was still applaudable, including over 300 tickets sold on Saturday night.

Now that the musical is finished, Green Room and Encore! will be collaborating once again for the Twelve Hour fundraiser show. Watch for upcoming details after break.