This year’s BHS musical production was Once on This Island directed and choreographed by Nikki Sanders Siriani. It was first on Broadway in 1990, and was most recently revived in 2017. The plot follows a free-spirited peasant girl, Ti Moune (Arianna Arocho), who falls in love with a grand homme, Daniel Beauxhomme (Zachary Simons). She doesn’t give up on her love despite all the societal expectations and external forces around her, and eventually unites the two sides of the island. The tragic love story features storytellers, four gods who control the world around them, and two sides of an island. This show has everything, from a truly interesting plot, catchy vocals, great choreography and phenomenal arrangements from the pit. It was nominated for a whopping 8 awards at this year’s Metro Awards. The Metros are an esteemed Tony-esque award show that recognizes the achievements from high school productions across New York. The Metros are not only an award ceremony, but a celebration of student’s creativity and artistic ability across numerous productions. The Metro Awards typically feature performances from schools that have been nominated at the awards. This year, the cast gave a performance of the song “Pray.”
Representatives from the Metro Awards attend the productions throughout their show dates and nominate high schools in categories like exemplary performers, performances, set design, music, choreography, etc. It is an esteemed honor to be nominated at the Metro Awards. This year there were 71 participating schools, the biggest the Metros had seen, and 40 categories.
Once on This Island nominations included “Best Overall Production of a Musical,” Arianna Arocho as lead Ti Moune for an “Outstanding Performance in a leading Female Identifying Role,” Tessa Boissonnault, Emiko Dunn, Mikaela Russano, and Christian Sciarrillo as The Gods for an “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble” Other nominations included “Outstanding Performance by a Student Orchestra” directed by Andrea Perdicho, “Outstanding Achievement in Choreography” choreographed by Nikki Sanders Siriani, and Zachary Simmons with an “Outstanding Vocal Performance by a Male Identifying Performer.” Lastly, Maeve Looby as Andrea Devereaux for an “Outstanding Cameo Performance by a Female Identifying Role”and Ava Fernandez as Young Ti Moune for “Outstanding Performance by a Child Performer” were both nominated.
The Metros saw huge wins for our cast and crew. Once on This Island took home 3 huge Metro awards and a huge scholarship opportunity. Our first achievement was our very own Emiko Dunn with a $20,000 New York Film Academy Scholarship and chance to study under Broadway professionals for her outstanding singing and acting. Emiko Dunn said,“This scholarship was very unexpected. I wasn’t even aware that it was an option. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity because I am looking to pursue a career in musical theatre.”
Our adorable Little Ti Moune, Ava Fernandez, took home her award, thanking her parents, Ms. Nikki, and the crew and the cast.
After a mind-blowing performance with all of the other nominees in her category, our multi-talented lead Arianna Arocho took home one of the biggest awards of the night with the “Outstanding Performance in a Leading Female Identifying Role.” She is a senior who is headed to Emerson College for theater.
Last but not least, with the biggest award of the night, Once on This Island took the coveted “Best Overall Production of A Musical beating” over 70 schools for this honor. This is the first time they’ve ever received this honor.
This year’s production was absolutely fantastic, I for one am grateful for having the opportunity to be just a small part of this year’s production. The cast, crew, and pit worked their absolute best to put on this amazing show. Everything from the absolutely brilliant choreography and direction from Nikki Sanders Siriani to the vocal work with Renee Browne, phenomenal set designs, to which our Crew Chief, Abby Clark and Tony Kimble worked tirelessly behind the scenes. With the phenomenal pit led by Ms. Perdicho, who performed extremely difficult music, the long tiresome rehearsals made all the cast members truly a family.