Happy Hour #59: Asaka Play Me A Podcast - ‘Once On This Island’

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Brave the storm and come and hear the story of Ahrens and Flaherty’s beautiful musical, ‘Once On This Island.’ With its current Broadway revival this show has gained a new life, so come and listen to the boys this week as they talk all about how Michael Arden’s production has reinvigorated the gender roles and turned ‘Once On This Island’ into a much more feminist piece, they have some cheery chat about how different societies deal with death and give their thoughts about this year’s Tony nominations! Once On This Island (Broadway Revival Recording) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES We can’t quite believe this is our first Ahrens and Flaherty show! If you’re into your academic texts about writing teams then this is a great resource for finding out more about this incredible duo! For a bit of a different viewpoint on the introduction of Haitian vodou culture to the Americas, look no further than Neil Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’ - and if you’re more of a visual learner then check out the Amazon series! It’s difficult to find protest for ‘Once On This Island’ but here is one article which talks about the difficulties of the story portrayed through the current revival. What do you think? What are your views on race/cultural portrayal in amateur theatre? Is there anything you think schools and amateur groups could be doing more of to promote equality? Let us know over on Reddit! Jimi would like to take this opportunity to profess his love for Alex Newell and all that he does. From ‘The Glee Project’ to now he’s a constant superstar! Check out this hugely groundbreaking performance on ‘Glee’ where Alex was one of the first portrayals of transgender teens of colour on network television! Jimi would also like to take this opportunity to talk about another one of his icons, Mitch Grassi of Pentatonix and Superfruit fame. Again, smashing gender barriers with one of the best voices Jimi’s ever heard. Here’s a great video with Dane Laffrey, set designer of the revival, talking about his influences for his incredible set design. A MOO-TIFUL QUIZ QUESTION The film version of this musical proved that Gene Kelly was afraid of cows. What is it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices