Island time

A lack of diversity is one critique occasionally leveled at the city’s arts sector. Now a recent addition to the cultural landscape is New Venture Theatre, a group that’s enlivening local performance art by taking on mainstream productions and reworking them with diversity in mind.

“We aim to bring all of Baton Rouge together and have a diverse audience sitting together to enjoy art,” says Greg Williams, the group’s managing artistic director.

The theater company is currently showing a production of Once on this Island to round out its fourth season. An adaptation of the wildly successful Broadway production of The Little Mermaid, Once tells the story of Ti Moune, a black peasant girl played by Shanna Burris who lives on a Caribbean island that gets wrecked by a natural disaster. After the storm, she falls in love with Daniel, a Frenchman out of her league from the other side of the island, who’s played by Michael Russ. Out of boredom, the goddess of love and the demon of death make a pact, using Ti as a pawn in their game. Leaving her world and entering Daniel’s, Ti faces harsh realities and adventures that play out over the course of the show.

Directed by Williams, Once on this Island borrows techniques from the most complicated Broadway productions to pull the audience into the story. Williams says the goal is to reach all of the senses.

“We’ve been working on this show for two years, starting with looking at puppetry and lighting techniques used on Broadway shows like The Lion King,” Williams says. “We use projectors, smoke, fabric, rotators and puppetry to increase the effect and really engulf the audience.”

Williams brought in Manship Theatre director Renee Chatelain to choreograph the performance.

“We’re really excited about that,” Williams says.

In step with the Caribbean theme and New Venture’s dedication to giving back, the show is a fundraiser for the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti. “It seems like something else bad happens every day, but we don’t want to forget that they still need help,” Williams says. New Venture staff will accept donations at each performance, and they have teamed with a national disaster relief organization to ensure the funds are used correctly.

Once on this Island continues through Nov. 13 with performances Thursday–Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and a Saturday matinee at 2:30 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the box office at 216-0660 or visit newventuretheatre.com.