By Shannon Hicks

DANBURY — Once On This Island is a musical set in the Caribbean about the forbidden love between a peasant girl and a wealthy city boy. The play, based on book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty (who adapted some of the best known Dr Seuss stories for Seussical and created the score for the musical Ragtime that was based on E.L. Doctrow’s novel), has been called a twist on the traditional tale of The Little Mermaid in that Island tells the story of the peasant girl Ti Moune, who falls in love with upper class Daniel after she saves his life from a car crash.

Central to the story are four gods the peasants believe rule their lives: Erzulie, the god of Love; Asaka, the god of Earth; Agwe, the god of Water; and Papa Ge, the god of Death.

The production includes rousing, upbeat numbers like “Mama Will Provide” and “Some Say” as well as ballads including “The Human Heart” and “Forever Yours.”

The Ahrens-Flaherty work is fairly new, having debuted only in April 1990 at Playwrights Horizons in Manhattan before opening at The Booth Theater on Broadway in October 1990. The show received eight Tony Award nominations including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book.

Now the Portuguese Cultural Center in Danbury is adding its production to the list of those across the country taking on the Caribbean-themed musical, and three young adults from Newtown are right in the thick of the show.

The Acting Up Theater Works company will offer four performances of the show. Curtain will be 8 pm on Fridays, August 5 and 12, and 2 pm on Sundays, August 7 and 14. Dinner and lunch packages are also available, with patrons invited to dine at Caravela Restaurant, which is adjacent to the cultural center, prior to the show.

Newtown native Rachel Moreno is directing the summer production, with Newtown residents Kayla Koschel and Sarah Parker both cast in the show.

Ms Moreno began directing summer productions at the Portuguese Cultural Center three years ago.

“This cultural center has a bunch of different groups — dancers, bands, etc — but it didn’t have theater when I was growing up,” said Ms Moreno. She was a member of the cultural center’s Sons of the Portugal Band from the time she was in eighth grade until she graduated from high school and it was during high school that she discovered a joy within the theater. She has played Nelly in South Pacific and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at New Fairfield Congregational Church, among other projects. She estimates that she has been involved in more than two dozen shows.

After graduating from Newtown High School in 1998, Ms Moreno first spent one year in Massachusetts (where she continued acting, tackling the female lead in Pippin for one production) and then went to school in Pennsylvania. Today she lives in Maryland and works in Virginia, where she teaches hearing-impaired children.

She comes home to spend time with her family in Newtown each summer while she continues the theater series at the Portuguese Cultural Center.

When she decided to create a summer theater program at the cultural center, she made sure each production included singing, dancing, and music. The first show she directed was West Side Story, “even though it’s for really experienced singers and dancers; I knew the people here could handle that. I also went with that show because of its cultural story.”

Ms Moreno has heard the comparisons of Once On This Island to The Little Mermaid but she prefers a different distinction.

“I see Once On This Island as a very cultural, very modern Romeo and Juliet,” she said this week. Ms Moreno is leading her cast and a full crew into their final weeks of rehearsals. With opening night quickly approaching, rehearsals are moving into high gear.

“I’ve been in shows where people are learning their lines as we go into final rehearsals, and then they show up and everything falls into place,” Kayla Koschel, who is playing the female lead Ti Moune, said this week. “It’s funny how things work out like that.

“We’ll be ready, though,” she continued. “We’re doing blocking, and touching up on everything. Everyone’s been working hard.”

“Everyone” is a cast of more than two dozen actors of all ages who live in Danbury and surrounding towns.

“The kids are so talented, and they’re very excited,” producer Annette Moreno mentioned. Ms Moreno is Rachel Moreno’s aunt.

“Our cast members come from Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, New Milford, and beyond,” Ms Moreno said. “They’re coming in to rehearsals very excited, and they’re putting a lot of energy and effort into this show.”

Kayla Koschel will be a senior at Newtown High School this year, where her name appears regularly on the honor roll. She made the High Honor Roll for the final marking period of the 2004-05 school year, in fact.

Miss Koschel was a dwarf in the high school’s production of Snow White last fall, and played Cupid in the December 2003 Downtown Cabaret Theatre Children’s Company production of Rudolph! She’s been doing summer productions since 2000, when she played the orphan Tessie in the Summer Theatre Connections production of Annie at Newtown High School.

Last summer was spent in part working in Pawling Summer Theatre, “so coming into Danbury for rehearsals most nights is nothing,” she said with a laugh.

Sarah Parker is also an honor roll student at Newtown High School, where she will be a junior in the fall. She was a dancer in the spring production of Show Boat, a dwarf in last fall’s presentation of Snow White, and a dancer in the high school’s spring 2003 production of Anything Goes.

This is her second summer theater project, having participated in last year’s Summer Theatre Connections Night of A Thousand Stars, a summer cabaret that Kayla Koschel also participated in.

Miss Parker admitted this week that she had not heard of Once On This Island before she heard about the auditions for the show back in April.

“My mom saw the auditions notice, and I was looking for something to do again this summer,” Miss Parker said. “I’m really glad I got into this show. It’s a nice story, and we’re going to put on a good show.”

Tickets for Once On This Island are $15 for adults, $10 for students, for the show itself. Meal packages are also available, at $30 for adults and $25 for students. Dinner will be served at Caravela Restaurant at 6 pm on Fridays and at noon on Sundays, and reservations are required for the dinner- or lunch-theater packages.

For reservations and additional information call 512-0529. The cultural center is at 65 Sand Pit Road (within the Western Connecticut Medical Center Complex).