- We named the exhilarating new production
of "Once On This Island"
as Broadway.com's number one show of 2017.
Director Michael Arden took the beloved musical
by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
and put a fresh and inventive spin on it.
I sat down with Arden to discuss his vision
for the show and how he brought it to glorious fruition.
Michael Arden, thank you so much for coming in
because I'm delighted to tell you
that "Once On This Island" was chosen
as the number one show by Broadway.com.
- I am overwhelmed. - Best of, best of,
- That's amazing. - It says it right there.
- That's amazing. - We love this show
and we love this production
so I wanna hear about how you came up with this vision
because this is a reimagining.
This isn't just a revival.
- In 2001, I was a freshman
at the Juilliard School as a drama student
and there was an Actors Fund Broadway Cares concert,
reunion original cast "Once On This Island"
that was happening at the Winter Garden
on the set of "Mamma Mia"
and I happened to snag a ticket
and like skipped out of rehearsal for "The Winter's Tale"
and I had heard the music,
I'd heard the album, thought it was great,
and obviously loved their work,
but I knew I wanted to see this
'cause I had never seen a production of it
and I remembered not being able to get out
of my seat after it was over.
It was just a concert performance of it
and I was so moved by how this is a story
about how people forgive and rebuild.
And I think at the time it was the perfect antidote for--
- 9/11. - For New York, I mean--
- It was post 9/11. - Yeah, it was post 9/11.
Two months had gone by
since the attacks - And LaChanze's husband
had died 9/11 so that's what that was,
I was there too yeah. - Yeah, and I think
everyone who was there-- - It was very moving
and it had a new layer of meaning I think.
- Yeah and I just felt like we were all healed by this
and so it was something I carried that with me
for a long time then.
Years later, I was talking with AnnMarie Milazzo
who is our vocal designer and orchestrator on the show
and I said, "Wouldn't it be cool
"to do 'Once On This Island' in a parking lot
"with no instruments, with just voices,
"and things we gather."
And she said, "Yeah that's great idea."
And we got together, we made two demos,
we like called Lillias White came and sang on one.
Josh Henry, Adrienne Warren,
all these people we got them together, and said,
"Let's make some acapella demo."
He wrote a beautifully-worded letter
and sent it to Lynn and Steve,
and with this demos, and they were like,
"No you can't." (both laughing)
So that was a swift no, but true to form,
I kept persisting and I knew I wanted
to do something in the round.
I think it was always certainly to do it in the round
so that it felt like people come together in a circle
since the beginning of time to tell stories around the fire
and so I know I wanted to do it in a round
and I knew I wanted to find ways
to use instruments and make it about
how powerful the human body and form and spirit can be
'cause that's what the play is about
and that was sort of my way in.
I think that the sort of kernel of the idea remains.
- It was very privileged to interview Lynn and Stephen,
and they said that you were in their Ragtime concert,
and you didn't give up.
You were a dog with a bone.
You really were tenacious about it.
So you really had a lot of vision for this,
a lot of perseverance about it.
Why? - Because I think
it's an important story.
I think unfortunately, it's a story that needs to be told.
I mean, as long as there is injustice in the world
which is sort of hard to imagine
a world without it, unfortunately.
Not only love is stronger than death,
and hate, and ignorance, and divide,
but that the good we do in our lives
goes beyond our life.
- This direction is very detailed
and very different from the original production.
Tell me where some of these images came from.
Where did the goat come from? (both laughing)
These details that aren't necessarily
in the original script.
- I think the goat just wandered
in one day. (Beth laughing)
I mean, I wanted this production
to feel very authentic and very real.
And as I was doing research, and I said,
"I have to go to Haiti.
"I have to be there.
"This is where I think this takes place"
and given the earthquake and storms that had happened there,
and how they were rebuilding.
So I called Ken Davenport, our producer, and I said,
"I have a crazy idea and you're gonna laugh at me,
"but I think Dane Laffrey, our set designer, and I
"need to go to Haiti."
And we ended up going
and it was really, really instrumental
in the work we did.
- How did that inform what we see
on the stage? - Just visually.
I mean, so much of what you see
are like complete recreations of pictures we took,
of people we saw, of things they were wearing.
- It does feel authentic
in the pre-show. - You know, the goats,
the chickens that were there, how the water even
like down to the sort of color of the water,
and the colors that are used,
and all of that, the car parts, all the debris,
all the trash you see at the beginning.
So I was really inspired by that,
but just to see that, "Oh, this what Rosa Gee
"was writing about in her novel,
and what Steve and Lynn had written about."
It's like alive and thriving.
It's class divide. - And even this year
with the many hurricanes
and the devastation in many Caribbean Islands.
It just feels very resonant right now.
Yeah and not even in the Caribbean.
In Houston-- - Right in Texas.
- In Florida, that was happening
while we were doing our lab.
It felt very immediate
and I wanted it to feel very sort of harshly realistic.
- Can we talk about this fabulous cast for a second?
Or many seconds? - It's an embarrassment
of riches, isn't it? - It's an embarrassment
of riches and that's a wonderful thing,
but it's also very different from the original production.
Tell me how you went about assembling these gods,
finding Hailey Kilgore which is a star is born suddenly.
It's wonderful.
- It wasn't easy.
The first piece that fell into place was like Salonga.
I called her and I said,
"I have this wild idea.
"I don't know if it'll work
"but I'm doing this show,
"and I think you would be really great in this role.
"And I know you're not Black."
- So true. - It was that and she said,
"Yeah, I know that too."
- And she had some trepidation about
taking that role. - Yeah, I mean,
think I think we all did.
We were nervous, you know, been so many people
came to this island from the Philippine
and from the Middle East even.
But I wanted the gods to be all very, very different
so it had to have a certain balance.
So I had met Alex Newell a couple years ago
and I was a big fan, and I said,
"Hey, I'm doing 'Once on This Island'"
and he said, "Oh, I wanna play the Lillias White role."
And we sort of laughed at the moment--
(Beth laughing) and then I remembered
that when we were casting, I said,
"I wanna bring him in."
And I think the writers were like,
"What are you doing?
"Papa Ge can't be a woman; he can't be."
But he came in and gave the best audition.
I mean, you can't deny when you hear him
singing "Mama Will Provide"
that it's probably the greatest we'll ever hear.
So he sang that and everyone was like,
"Oh okay, well that's something."
And it was exciting for me to say like,
"Hey, a gay man can be a mother."
- And a woman can be
a Papa Ge. - And a woman can be
a Papa Ge.
It's exciting to have these two women fighting
over the fate of this young girl.
And with Hailey, I mean I saw a video of her
that was sent by a wonderful actor named Rodney Hicks.
I sent us a video of her singing "Home"
from "The Wiz" when she was 16.
(Beth laughing) So we called her in.
This 18-year-old girl walked in and stole our hearts.
- It's amazing also how much trust
Steven and Lynn, and your producers had,
and letting you work on the gender fluidity,
and the multiculturalism of this show.
- Yeah I mean, it didn't come without--
- You won them over. - It didn't come
without a fight, (both laughing)
but I think you know
that's where the best work can come out
of like people butting heads and saying,
"Okay well, why do I feel this way?
"Why are we holding on to these things?"
Changes is tricky and change is like,
all right the last time they saw the show
was closing night in 1991
when it was perfect, you know?
So I think then saying, "Oh I'm gonna take your baby,
"and paint it, and rip it up,
"and put it back together."
is an incredibly scary thing for any writer
so I really-- - And every director wants
to work in the round.
Always such an easy task.
- This show had to be in the round.
I can't imagine that any other way.
- You're lucky that theater was available.
- I know we built the model for circle in the square,
not knowing if it was available or anything.
It was just sort of a pipe dream and the gods smiled.
- The gods smiled.
- It's a wonderful production.
Congratulations for being the best of the year,
not just for us, but for a lot of publications.
- Well, thank you.
It's such an honor.
I mean, to just just to be part of the Broadway community
and bringing this show back
with these particular people at this time,
and to be welcomed like this is such an honor.
- Thank you for coming in Michael.
- Thanks for having me.