Once on this island poster. graphics of two people dancing, water, fish

Central Valley Academy will present the musical "Once on This Island" March 3-5 in CVA's Burton T. Seymour Auditorium.  Tickets are $10 each and are available at the CVA main office. As of this date, masks are required.  Performances are:

  • March 3, 2022 at 7 p.m.
  • March 4, 2022 at 7 p.m.
  • March 5, 2022 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Note: the snow date is Sunday, Mar. 6 at 2 p.m.

CVA teacher Mark A. Bunce directs the performance. Trevor Jones and Megan Sterling are the choreographers, and Sara McHale and Andrea Nitti are assistants to the director. Book and lyrics are by Lynn Ahrens with music by Stephen Flaherty.  It is based on the novel "My Love, My Love" by Rosa Guy.

"Once on This Island" tells the story of Ti Moune, a peasant girl, who rescues a wealthy boy from the other side of the island, Daniel, with whom she falls in love. Unbeknownst to Ti Moune, the pompous gods who preside over the island make a bet with one another over which is stronger, love or death, the stakes being Ti Moune's life. When she pursues Daniel, who has returned to his people, Ti Moune is shunned because of her lowly status. Her determination and capacity to love, though, is not enough to win Daniel's heart, and Ti Moune pays the ultimate price; but the gods turn Ti Moune into a tree that grows so strong and so tall, it breaks the wall that separates the societies and ultimately unites them.