About halfway through the Broadway revival of Once on This Island, the god Asaka takes center stage during “Mama Will Provide,” a bombastic number about aiding the story’s heroine, Ti Moune (Hailey Kilgore), a peasant girl who falls for a wealthy boy from the other side of their Antilles island nation, on her journey to find love. Played by Alex Newell, the actor and singer famous for playing the transgender student Unique on Glee, the flamboyant and vibrant god sashays her way around the sand-covered stage, filling the Circle in the Square Theatre with song.
It’s a show-stopping moment that brings audiences to their feet. Suddenly, the energy of the show is lifted by Newell’s rousing Broadway debut, a standout performance among acting and Broadway veterans (Lea Salonga, Greenleaf’s Merle Dandridge and Quentin Earl Darrington) who play the island’s other three gods.
For Newell, the initial performances and subsequent reactions came as a surprise...
It’s a show-stopping moment that brings audiences to their feet. Suddenly, the energy of the show is lifted by Newell’s rousing Broadway debut, a standout performance among acting and Broadway veterans (Lea Salonga, Greenleaf’s Merle Dandridge and Quentin Earl Darrington) who play the island’s other three gods.
For Newell, the initial performances and subsequent reactions came as a surprise...
- 12/14/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
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