Bow Down! Meet the Immortal Gods of Broadway's Once on This Island

When the well-loved 1990 musical Once on This Island returns to Broadway—previews start at the Circle in the Square on November 9—the gods who rule the Caribbean setting will have a new flair. In casting the divine rulers of earth, water, love and death, director Michael Arden looked beyond the traditional gender and race constraints that sometimes define the roles and found four dynamic stars to bring them to life anew for audiences. This fabulous foursome is essential to the musical’s touching story of young, poor island girl—the plot kicks off when they save her from a deadly storm—so Broadway.com wanted to dig deep with them on godly topics like worship, abuse of power and much more.



QUENTIN EARL DARRINGTON ON AGWE, GOD OF WATER
Darrington just finished a year-long run as Old Deuteronomy in Cats, riding the tire to the Heaviside Layer eight times a week. He was previously seen as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the acclaimed 2009 revival of Ragtime and has also been seen on the New York stage in The Secret Garden, A New Brain and Lost in the Stars.

How are you most like Agwe? 
I have many different layers and I’m very, very chill most of the time, I love to flow and keep things peaceful and easy, which water is most of the time.

How do you wish you were more like Agwe?
I wish that I could just wave my hand and make things happen instantaneously.

If you had the powers of Agwe, how would you abuse them in your life?
I would destroy some evil stuff that doesn't belong in this world! I don't even know if that would be an abuse of power, though. [Laughs.] But I would surely use the destructive powers of my waves and storms to get rid of some stuff that we don't need.

What's the best thing about getting to play Agwe?
The best part about playing Agwe is he functions with three other gods. There is no Agwe without the other three. That collaborative cohesion to me is very important in our natural life, and so I love the fact that we dive into that every day.

How does one pray to Agwe?
I love to eat. I'm only eating plant-based whole foods now, but before that, my favorite food in the world was seafood! Bring Agwe some crab legs, some nice tilapia, some salmon and I'm good!



LEA SALONGA ON ERZULIE, GODDESS OF LOVE
A Tony Award winner for Miss Saigon, Salonga is internationally one of the most popular musical theater stars around. On Broadway, she’s also been seen in Flower Drum Song, Les Miserables and Allegiance and she’s also starred in productions of Fun Home, Cats, Cinderella and God of Carnage in the Phillippines. Film work includes the singing voices of Jasmine in Aladdin and Fa Mulan in Mulan.

How are you most like Erzulie? 
There is a naughtiness and a playfulness to her. She's not just all about love. There's a twinkle in this god. My friends in Manila would call her medyo sira, which is kind of a little broken. But not broken... There’s a little something going on in her head, which makes it fun for me to play. And because love has this power to make you feel all kinds of things—if you’re in the throes of a breakup it’s an up and down rollercoaster but love also has the power to heal, to bring people together and to transcend pain and death and heartbreak.

If you had the powers of Erzulie, how would you abuse them in your life?
The term massive orgy comes to mind, but that would not be wise. [Laughs.] I would probably go into the Senate and maybe cast a spell on every senator from both sides of the aisle, so that they can come together and maybe do right by this country.

What's the best thing about getting to play Erzulie?
That song “The Human Heart.” I get to sing that song! It sits right in the sweetest of spots in my voice. I'm just only too happy and privileged to do it.

How does one pray to Erzulie?
I think one needs to center one's self first. And you have to let go of all the pain that's in your heart before you call out her name. And you have to keep your shrine very clean!



ALEX NEWELL ON ASAKA, MOTHER OF THE EARTH
After making a splash on FOX’s Glee as transgender student Wade “Unique” Adams, Newell makes his long-awaited Broadway debut. Before landing on TV, Newell played roles including Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray and the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. He is also a recording artist with Atlantic Records, with a debut EP entitled Power.

How are you most like Asaka?
I'm loud and I'm obnoxious. That's how I'm most like Miss Asaka! [Laughs.] My mother is crazy. We can have all the kikis and fun and laughs, but then when she means what she says, she means what she says, and she's not backing down from it. And I love that. And I think Asaka's like that. I want to be a just, firm, fun mother.

How do you wish you were more like Asaka?
I wish I liked the outdoors. Everyone talks about being outside and they love the trees and they love the breeze and the birds, tweet-tweet. I'm like, “No I love my temperature-controlled apartment.” I wish I could go outside and be like, [singing] "A whole new wooorld. A dazzling place I n-never knew." [Laughs.]

If you had the powers of Asaka, how would you abuse them in your life?
Anytime there was traffic in LA, I would just cave the earth in and let all the cars go away so I could just go where I need to be!

How does one pray to Asaka?
You fry some chicken. That's how you pray to Asaka. You kill the chicken, you get your big ole vat of grease, you throw that little thing into grease and then she shows up because she's hungry!



MERLE DANDRIDGE ON PAPA GE, SLY DEMON OF DEATH
Dandridge returns to Broadway after a decade focusing on TV and film work; she currently stars in the Oprah Winfrey produced TV show Greenleaf. Her Broadway roles include Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, Joanne in Rent, Aida in Aida and Kala in the original company of Tarzan.

How are you most like Papa Ge?
My castmates will say that I come [to the theater] giggly and then I put on Papa Ge and I scare them! [He is a] trickster and I think I have a little bit of that mischievousness in my spirit. And he likes to take something and spin it in an unexpected way. And I have a little bit of that, I think.

How do you wish you were more like Papa Ge?
Papa Ge is fearless, and I endeavor to some of that. I mean, to get out on stage and do what you do, you have to be fearless, but he has just a searing, one-minded mentality that he's going to get what he wants no matter what. You know what? Papa Ge is more like me than I thought. Let me take that back! [Laughs.]

What's the best thing about getting to play Papa Ge?
I get to go over to the dark side a little bit. There's a little bit of seduction and enticing that I get to do. I get to show my guttural side. It’s fun to get ferocious with it.

If you had the powers of Papa Ge, how would you abuse them in your life?
Papa Ge understands what's on the other side of life. He has a vision for what you can do when you're released from this [world], and I think there's something really special and interesting about knowing what your purpose is in life right now, and how that takes you into the next life. And Papa Ge's got that.


Photos: Caitlin McNaney | Styling: Heather Newberger | Hair: Morgan Blaul | Makeup: Margina Dennis