A Guide for Teachers February 2019

Book and Lyrics by Music by Lynn Ahrens Stephen Flaherty Based on the book “My Love, My Love” by Rosa Guy THE CAST LITTLE TI MOUNE...... Karielle Sutton MAMA EURALIE...... Vivika Cheemakoti TONTON JULIAN...... Levi Jones PAPA GE...... Kevin Bennett ASAKA...... Genna Raborn AGWE...... Zoe Chatman ERZULIE...... Ava Culpepper TI MOUNE...... MaKenzie Ballard DANIEL BEAUXHOMME...... Mason Chattin-Carter DANIEL’S FATHER...... Ian Parten ANDREA...... Tessa Kelly LITTLE GIRL and PEASANT GIRL...... Jaelyn Sanders ENSEMBLE...... Melayna Buttry Macy Barry Hannah Carter Brooklynn Hutcheson Hayley Lewis Annabelle Major Taylor Mitchell Christiana Russell Eben Shriner Emma Tuttle Molly Watts CHILDREN’S ENSEMBLE...... Finley Burnette William Hall J.A. Heard Paul Knotts Alex Loyd Acadia Phillips Larkin Smith

Stage Manager...... Charlie Clevenger The Chattanooga Theatre Centre extends sincere gratitiude Youth Theatre Co-Producers

$1,000 Level: Mitch & Jackie Collins Carole Klimesch Dennis McGuire in memory of Mary Kate McGuire

$500 Level: Anonymous Owen Allen Mark & Pamela Bracher Brandon & Mandy Culpepper Lily & Iris Hamby Eunice Hodges Sallie & Dale Lawrence

$300 Level: Chattanooga Handyman Rick & Lisa Glisson Diane & Michael Huseman Charles & Krissy Joels Martha Mackey Amy & Steve Meller Papercut Interactive Ryan & Nicole Rogers Dave & Jan Suhrbier Julie & Rodney Van Valkenburg Michelle & Brett Warren

Come Clean Entertainment | Happy’s Shaved Ice

Chattanooga Theatre Centre Staff

Executive Director...... Todd Olson Costume Shop Manager...... Vena Champion Director of Marketing...... Julie VanValkenburg Technical Director...... Norman Eric Patron Services Director...... Wayne Schock Knauss Business Manager...... Cassandra Gross Master Carpenter...... Evan Brackett Development Associate...... Lisa Glisson Properties Master/Scenic Painter...Tara McDougal Group Sales & Events Manager...Ric Morris Education Assistant...... Katie Campassi Education Director...... Chuck Tuttle Box Office Assistants...... Kitty Murakami Youth Theatre Director...... Scott Dunlap Nicole Coleman About the Director

Scott Dunlap: An alumni of our Youth Theatre program, Scott graduated from the American Acade- my of Dramatic Arts in 1996 and was a member of their 1997 Acting Company. He is proud to re- turn to his roots. Scott was Youth Theatre Designer from 1997 until 2000. He directed and designed Tuck Ever- lasting, Robin Goodfellow and Bamboozled for the Youth Theatre, additionally writing Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs and adapting Chuck Tuttle’s Sleeping Beauty for the program. From 2007-2012, he was writer/director of The Snow Queen, The Jungle Book and The Canterville Ghost for Baylor Middle School. He has been onstage in numerous CTC productions, including such diverse roles as the vil- lainous Miss Hannigan in Annie, and the playboy, Bobby in Company. In 2008, he received the award for Best Actor for Estrogon in Waiting for Godot at the Tennessee Theatre Association Community Theatre Competition and returned in 2012 to receive Best Director and Best Production forAlfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. His long history of directing CTC shows, often designing his own produc- tions, includes Hair, Mr. & Mrs. M, Dark of the Moon, The Importance of Being Earnest, Rent, The Fantasticks, Almost Maine and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in 2005, 2009 & 2017.

About the Musical Director

Neshawn Calloway, a native of Olive Branch, MS, came to Chattanooga in 1994 to attend graduate school at UTC. Upon completion of her degree in 1996, Neshawn was hired at Chattanooga State as the coordinator of the music department. During that time, she conducted two classical choral groups, the gospel choir, and jazz vocal ensemble. In 2001 Neshawn became the vocal music director at Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts, where she conducts six vocal ensembles. Her ensembles have consistently scored superior ratings at regional and state festivals. Neshawn is a well- known performer having appeared at Nightfall and Riverbend as well as performing with the Chat- tanooga Symphony and Opera. As an artist, Neshawn has released two CD projects, the first entitled Make It Through, a worship EP, and Back to the Big 9, featuring the music of Bessie Smith.

About the Choreographer

Marie C. Dance is a native of Chattanooga and a graduate of Reinhardt University in Waleska, GA. She is a dance major and graduate of Center for Creative Arts. She credits her dancing creativity to Cinnamon Halbert Smith and Karen Wilson. Her first theater role, at the CTC, was a dancer in Ro- meo & Juliet (2006). In Legally Blonde (2013), she choreographed a musical number and was cast as Judge/Delta Nu/Ensemble. Her favorite dance credits include Normal-palooza and the Chattanooga Ballet’s Nutcracker (2018). This is Marie’s choreography debut with the CTC and she is honored to be selected to show her talents. She dedicates this performance to her children at Siskin Children’s Institute, where she has served as a teaching partner and Registered Behavioral Technician. “... and on this island, we tell the story.” The Chattanooga Theatre Centre is thrilled that you are coming to the show! A few reminders for you and your students to ensure the best experience possible for everyone!

This performance will take place on our Main Stage.

• Please be on time to a performance. Usually this means arriving 30 minutes before curtain time to ensure proper time for parking and seating. • This performance will be in the Main Stage Theatre (the double doors closest to the river). • Upon arrival, one person should check in at the Will Call desk on the left side of the lobby. • Please line up in the lobby the way you would like your class to be seated. If you must move someone please do so before entering the theatre • There will be no intermission for this show so please use the restroom before the performance to avoid a disruption during the performance. • Turn off your cell phones and refrain from using them during the performance. • Please pay close attention to the curtain speech before the performance. There is critical information given about the safety of our patrons while watching the performance. • Please be mindful that any noise can be distracting for the audience...whispering is still speaking. Even unwrapping a piece of candy is more distracting than you know! • Taking photos or video is strictly prohibited during a performance by our contractual agreement with the publisher. • Please remain in your seat for the entire performance. If you must leave, do so discreetly so as not to disturb others. In an emergency, please walk, do not run, to the nearest exit. • Please refrain from eating or drinking in the theatre. • Keep feet off the seats and do not kick the seat in front of you. • Applause at the end of the performance tells the performers and crew that you appreciate their work. Standing and applauding means you really liked the show. • It is distracting and inappropriate to whistle or scream out to the performers (even if you know them).

Please consider filling out our survey after seeing the Production: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScTytr4Qz0D4pWGu38yrykKoSCx34yORyskQBUw91690rXJQw/ viewform?usp=sf_link WHAT IS DRAMA?

Aristotle (384-322BC) was one of the first philosophers to begin to explain Drama. He wrote an essential list of elements in Drama. Even though he wrote this list well over 2000 years ago, we still reference Aristotle’s elements when discussing the definition of Drama.

Aristotle’s six Elements of Drama: Plot: What happens in the play; the storyline. Theme: Meaning of the Play; lessons learned from story. Characters: Usually people in the play but at times characters can be animals, inanimate objects, or simply and idea. Dialogue: The words spoken in the play written by the playwright. It helps move the plot. Music/Rhythm: Sometimes Plays use music to help tell the story, but Aristotle was also talking about the rhythm of the dialogue of the characters. The pace of the play. Spectacle: Visual elements of the play, which include:

• Scenery: The Set; The equipment, such as curtains, flats, backdrops, or platforms, used in production to communi- cate environment. • Costumes: Clothing and accessories worn by the actors to portray character and period. • Props: Properties; Any article except costumes and scenery, used as a part of a dramatic production; any moveable object that appears on stage during performance. • Lights: The placement, intensity, and color of lights to help communicate environment, mood, and/or feeling. • Sound: The audible effects heard by the audience to communicate character, context, and/or environment.

In Once On This Island, the lsland is never given a name but is referred to as “The Jewel of The Antilles.” This is the name given to Haiti during its time as a French Colony. Haiti’s his- tory is a story of conquest, slavery, disasters and despotism. It is also the story of the second independent nation to be formed in the Western Hemisphere, and the first country led by its former slaves. To learn more about Haiti’s amazing history, Check out these websites:

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/12/haiti_be- los_sonlinks.html https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/what-became-of- the-taino-73824867/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1202857.stm Once on This Island Synopsis

The play is set after a terrible hurricane on an island known as “The Jewel of The Antilles.” As ref- ugees gather in a shelter, they tell a story to ease the fears of the children. It is the story of another hurricane, many years before, when many people died. But a small girl is saved by the gods in the branches of a tree. She is found by kind, poor couple who name her Ti Moune. She grows up and, one day, she sees a rich, young man (Daniel Beauxhomme), racing down the beach in his car. She prays to the gods to let her go off with the young man and find her destiny. The gods entertained by this prayer and scoff at her insolence. But Erzulie, the goddess of love, convinces them that it would be fun to test her love against death (the realm of Popa Ge). Agwe, the god of the sea, brings a great storm, which crashes upon the young man’s car and injures him. Ti Moune finds him and takes him back to her shack, to the objections of all the villagers (“Papa Ge wants him...and Papa Ge will have him!). But Ti Moune is adamant. She nurses him day and night. When Papa Ge comes for him, Ti Moune stands between them and offers her life for his. Though Papa Ge warns Ti Moune that, once done, there is no going back on such a deal (“I am the road leading to no return.”), the bargain is made. Soon, the young man’s rich father comes and takes him back to their fine hotel on the other side of the island. Ti Moune, believing Daniel needs her, starts a journey across the island to find him, despite the objections of her parents. She is guided by Asaka, goddess of the earth (“Whatever you need, Momma will provide!”) She makes it to the hotel and finds Daniel recouperating in his bed. He bids her to stay and she nurses him back to health. In the process, with the help of Erzulie, they fall in love. But Ti Moune is a peasant girl among the wealthy. She is accepted, and even praised for her dancing, because she is Daniels pet. Even though Daniel wants to marry Ti Moune, it is revealed that his marriage to another was arranged when he was a child. Ti Moune is distraught when Papa Ge finds her to collect on their bargain. He is about to take her soul, but he gives her one way out. He is still willing to take Daniel instead if she will kill him. Faced with Daniels betrayal and Papa Ge, she agrees, and sneaks into Daniel’s room with a knife. At the last minute she finds she can’t kill him be- cause she loves him too much. Daniel wakes and, seeing Ti Moune with the knife, has her cast from the hotel. Ti Moune waits for two weeks outside the hotel gate. One morning, she sees Daniel and his new bride, who come to give coins to the poor (a custom of the wealthy on their wedding day). Daniel sees her and gives her money. Heart broken, Ti Moune is close to death. Erzulie steps in and transforms her into a tree. The tree grows and eventually cracks the wall of the hotel that separates the peasants from the wealthy, bringing together all the people of the island. Tennessee Standards Covered by Seeing this Play

2nd grade

2.RL.CS.5 Describe the overall structure of a story, including how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action. 2.RL.KID.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. 2.RL.CS.6 Determine when characters have different points of view. 2.RL.IKI.9 Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story by different authors or different cultures.

3rd grade

3.RL.KID.3 Describe characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. 3.RL.CS.5 Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part of a text builds on earlier sections. 3.SL.CC.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text presented in diverse media such as visual, quanti- tative, and oral formats.

4th grade

4.RL.CS.6 Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated. 4.RL.IKI.7 Make connections between the print version of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the same text. 4.RL.IKI.9 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes, topics, and patterns of events in stories from differ- ent cultures. 4.SL.CC.2 Paraphrase portions of a text presented in diverse media such as visual, quantitative, and oral formats.

5th grade

5.RL.CS.6 Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described. 5.RL.IKI.7 Explain how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or mood of a text, such as in a graphic novel, multimedia presentation, or fiction, folktale, myth, or poem. 5.RL.IKI.9 Compare and contrast stories in the same genre on their approaches to similar themes and topics. 5.SL.CC.2 Summarize a text presented in diverse media such as visual, quantitative, and oral formats. Once On This Island: So many influences Once On This Island is Tony award winning musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. This long- time writing team has been creating award-winning musicals since 1983, including Once on this Island (1990, Tony nomination for best musical), Anastasia (film, 1997, Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. A stage version was produced in 2016), Ragtime (1998, Tony winner, Best Original Score), and Suessical (2000, one of the most frequently produced shows in America). They are members of the Theatre Hall of Fame and recipients of Broadways triple crown (Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award. Their play, Once on This Island, is based on the book, My Love, My Love or, The Peasant Girl, by Rosa Guy. Ms. Guy was born in Trinidad in the 1920s, but moved to Harlem with her parents in 1932. She lost both parents by the age of 14, and was forced to work in a garment factory. As an adult, she studied writing at New York University, became and member of the American Negro Theatre, and co-founded the Harlem Writers Guild. Ms. Guy wrote over 20 books, which received several awards, including the Coretta Scott King Award. Her book, My Love, My Love or, The Peasant Girl, was a Caribbean retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Little Mermaid. Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish writer of children’s literature. He was born in Odense, Denmark, on April 2, 1805. Andersen achieved worldwide fame for writing innovative and influential fairy tales. His early years were marked by the death of his father when he was 11 years old. At the age of 14, he moved to Copenhagen to become an actor. He was not successful at this, but showed promise as a writer. He first wrote novels, mostly autobiographical, but, in 1835, he wrote Tales Told for Children, which included The Tinderbox, and The Princess and the Pea. In 1837, he expanded his book with additional stories, among them, The Little Mermaid. Andersen is likely to have been influenced in his story by the novella, Undine, written by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué in 1811, and turned into an opera by E.T.A. Hoffman in 1814. In this story an Undine (a water spirit) marries a knight to gain a human soul. She will keep her soul as long as her husband remains faithful (guess what happens). The term “Undine” (or “Ondine”) was coined by the Swiss author Paracelsus (1493-1541). His idea of female water spirits likely came from the Nereids, sea nymphs who accompanied Poseidon in Greek mythology.

Sources “Stephen Flaherty.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Flaherty. About Us, www.ahrensandflaherty.com/index.html. “Rosa Guy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Jan. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Guy. AALBC.com, the African American Literature Book Club, aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Rosa Guy. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Rosa Guy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28 Aug. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Rosa-Guy. “Hans Christian Andersen Biography.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, Advameg, Inc., www.notablebiographies.com/A-An/ Andersen-Hans-Christian.html. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Hans Christian Andersen.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 16 Nov. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Christian-Andersen-Danish-author. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undine_(novella) https://www.britannica.com/topic/undine-mythology Comparing Once On This Island and The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid Once On This Island The Main Character A mermaid, daughter of the sea-king and Ti Moune, a girl rescued from a tree after a youngest of six sisters. big storm by an elderly couple. Where does she live? Under the sea. On an island called “The Jewel of the Antilles.

Inciting incident On her fifteenth birthday, she is allowed She is on the beach and sees a young man to swim to the surface. There, she sees a (Daniel) racing by in his car. ship with a prince who is celebrating his sixteenth birthday

How did they meet?

A great storm blows in and the boat sinks. The gods create a storm with waves that crash The Little Mermaid sees the prince in the upon the car, injuring the young man. Ti Moune water. She rescues him, takes him to land takes him to her hut and takes car of him. Death and lays him on the beach, where another comes and she gives her soul for Daniel’s. girl finds him. What does she do to be with him?

The Little Mermaid visits the sea-witch who The young man’s father finds him and takes him gives her a potion to turn her tail into two back to their fine hotel. Ti Moune determines to legs. She is warned that it will be painful, but go to him, over the objections of her parents. she does it anyway.

What does the young man/prince do?

He takes her in and they become close. Daniel allows Ti Moune to nurse him to health. Then he finds the girl who found him on the She dances for the rich people at the hotel. Then beach and marries her. she is introduced to Daniel’s fiance. She makes a deadly decision

Her sisters come to her on the wedding ship. Death (Papa Ge) comes to Ti Moune for her They have sold their hair for a magic knife. If soul. Papa Ge tells her that if she kills Daniel, she The Little Mermaid kills the prince, she can can live. He gives her a knife. become a mermaid again. How does it end? The Little Mermaid is not able to kill the Ti Moune is unable to kill Daniel, but he wakes prince. At the rise of the sun, she falls into and sees her with the knife. She is cast out of the the sea and becomes the foam on the waves. hotel. Ti Moune stays outside the gate for two weeks. Close to death, the gods transform her into a tree. Vodou Sometimes spelled Voodoo, or, in French Vaudou, Vodou is the Haitian religion that merges African beliefs with the Catholicism from the French and Spanish. Vodou has many branches, Rada, Daome, Ibo, Nago, Dereal, Manding, Petwo, and Kongo, to name a few. Each differs from region to region, and even priest to priest. At it’s essence Vodou is a belief that all things are spirit. People are walking spirits on the earth. The God of the Christian Bible is believed to be the creator of all spirits including the lwa, who intercede for humans, much like the saints in Catholicism. Through dance and rituals, the slaves of the French colony, and later, the subjects of Haiti’s despots, found comfort that, one day, their spirits would be released from their oppressed bodies. Once On This Island uses four of these as catalysts to the plot, much like the sea-witch in Hans Christian Ander- son’s The Little Mermaid. The lwa used inOnce On This Island are:

Baron Samedi Agwe Lwa of the Dead Lwa of the Sea (Papa Ge in Once On This Island)

Azaka Lwa of Agriculture Erzulie Lwa of Love

McAlister, Elizabeth A. “Vodou.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 9 Mar. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Vodou#ref1252863. Jonathan M. Katz, Troi Anderson. “Explore the Timeless World of Vodou, Deep Within the Caves of Haiti.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 July 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/explore-timeless-world-vodou-haiti-180963673/.

Haitian Storytelling Once On This Island starts with a story being told to a little girl. Haiti has a rich storytelling tradition. It serves as entertainment and education. In a gathering of Haitians, if someone shouts out “krik,” it means someone wants to tell a story. If the party is interested, the shout, “krak!” The storyteller will launch into his story, but it is not just his story. The audience too, may become part of the story, acting it out through words, song, or dance. Like in the south, many of the tales have their origins in Africa. The Ashanti people who lived in the area of present day Ghana, were known for their stories, and their trickster storyteller, Anansi the Spider. These tales were brought over with the slave trade and were kept through an oral tradition. This oral storytelling tradition played a vital purpose in Haitian culture. In the past, the population was mostly illiterate slaves for field works. An oral tradition was the only way to keep their culture going. Even today, as Haiti works towards greater literacy of their population, the use of spoken-song within stories help teach everything from history to mathematics.

This is a good website about Once On This Island and Haiti: https://olneyonceonthisisland.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/haitian-storytelling/#more-238 African folktales have been woven into our culture. See if you recognize any of this “Anansi Tale” from Africa: https://www.wilderutopia.com/traditions/myth/ashanti-of-ghana-how-spider-obtained-the-sky-gods-stories/ https://www.everyculture.com/wc/Germany-to-Jamaica/Haitians.html More Learning Opportunities for Young People...

An Educational Production for 5th Grade not so World War I: The Great War This entertaining, one-man show, featuring local military historian Louis Varnell who takes students through the causes of the war, the technological advances of the age, the realities of life in the trenches and the ultimate outcome of the “War to End All Wars.”

February 12 & 13, 2019 School Matinees only: 9:45 am and 11:30 am

Summer Academy 2019 Class for students Rising K - 12th Grade

June 3 - August 2

Opens March 30, 2019