Film
'Once On This Island,' the Movie, Is Coming — Cast Alex Newell
Still thinking of that Tonys performance!
August 04 2020 7:59 AM EST
November 04 2024 9:47 AM EST
MikelleStreet
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Still thinking of that Tonys performance!
Mama truly will provide!!
On the heels of its Hamilton release, it looks like Disney has another Broadway musical they hope to bring to screens. Please give Once on This Island, a round of applause ladies and gentlemen.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Disney is developing an adaptation based on the musical which is set in the Caribbean's French Antilles. With a storyline that follows Ti Moune, who is a peasant girl that falls in love with an aristocrat, the musical is widely lauded -- think The Little Mermaid but with more island flair. After debuting in 1990 on Broadway, the musical was revived in 2017. That revival famously featured Alex Newell who starred as Asaka. Newell, and the cast, took their performance to the Tonys where they picked up Best Revival of a Musical in 2018 and gave one of the most memorable medleys in recent history. And it's for that reason that we need to see Newell in this role again!
\u201cThe mics might have been off during the lip sync of #CelebDragRace last night but we will never forget @thealexnewell\u2019s performance during the \u201cOnce On This Island\u201d medley at 2018\u2019s @TheTonyAwards \u2014 the mics were live!!!\u201d— Out Magazine (@Out Magazine) 1589048251
So far, Entertainment Weekly reports that the project has a writer in Jocelyn Bioh and a producer in Marc Platt. Wanuri Kahiu, the director behind the history-making Rafiki is set to come on board as well. The publication also reports that this will be a live-action adaptation. That sounds completely fine with us as long as the cast is still going to give us the vocals! You can listen to the revival soundtrack on most streaming platforms now.
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Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.