BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff Ti Moune, played by eighth-grader Lauren Mruk, 13, tries to fight off the ill-fated Papa Ge, played by eighth-grader Johnny Costa, 13, in the Upper Freehold Regional Middle School Drama Club's performance of "Once on This Island Junior." One small life is on the line at the Upper Freehold Regional Elementary/Middle School.

Eighth-grader Lauren Mruk, 13, who plays the part of Ti Moune in the Drama Club's production of "Once on This Island Junior, finds herself at the mercy of the gods of love, death, earth and water.

"Send me to places where no one before has been," Mruk sings. "Show me why you spared my life," she asks of the gods who saved her from a flood when she was a small child.

The peasants and the wealthy grand hommes on the island make up "two different worlds" never meant to meet, but Ti Moune ultimately plays a part in changing that course of life.

In a song called "The Gods Heard Her Prayer," the gods decide to allow Ti Moune to help a grand homme to try to prove whether love or death is the most powerful god.

PHOTOSBY SCOTT PILLING staff Lauren Mruk, 13, plays the part of Ti Moune in the Upper Freehold Regional Middle School's production of "Once on This Island Junior." Agwe, the god of water played by Ben Dawes, 13, starts by causing a night of rain that puts Daniel, played by Chris Schladebeck, 13, in trouble.

"I create the plot," Dawes said. "I make Daniel crash so Ti Moune can find him."

When Ti Moune tries to help Daniel, her father, Tonton Julian played by Kyle Miller, 13, goes off in search of Daniel's family, while her mother, Mama Euralie, played by Kelsey Carroll, 14, watches over the couple.

"I have to watch my child grow up," Carroll said. "I have to let her go to save Daniel's life and to be with Daniel."

Ti Moune promises to give up her own life to Papa Ge, the god of death played by Johnny Costa, 13, if he spares Daniel. Papa Ge agrees to her bargain with glee.

Ti Moune, played by Lauren Mruk, (l-r) gets an earful from Andrea, played by eighth-grader Kelly Macuda, 13. "It's nice to be the villain," Costa said. "It's fun to be evil."

Tonton Julian brings Daniel's family to him and Ti Moune insists on returning to their palace with them.

Asaka, goddess of the earth played by Olivia Hendrickson, 13, promises Ti Moune that she will provide all the things she is likely to need on her way.

"It's pretty powerful to be an earth goddess because you control a lot of things," Hendrickson said. "I make things like the trees, plants and animals."

Ti Moune stays with Daniel in his room while he gets better, and the goddess of love, Erzulie, played by Ashlee Fortsch, 14, appears to preside over them.

"I love it because I get to play a character I usually am not - someone who makes people fall in love with one another," Fortsch said.

On a starlit evening, Ti Moune tells Daniel of her dreams for their future. He tells her he is to marry another girl, and at a ball introduces her to Andrea Devereaux, played by Kelly Macuda, 13, the girl he is to marry.

"I'm Daniel's fiancée, and I don't like Ti Moune," Macuda said. "I have to get rid of the other woman that Daniel falls in love with, so in the end Andrea wins."

What remains to be seen is who will marry Daniel and what will become of Ti Moune's soul, which she promised to Papa Ge.

Miller said, "The play is upbeat and fun for the people watching it. It also teaches a good lesson - that all should be treated equally."

About 70 students are taking part in the production. Most of the students in the play are seventh- and eighth-graders, but there are two fifth-graders playing the parts of small children.

Tengood said putting on a production teaches her students responsibility and teamwork.

"This show just doesn't have one lead," Tengood said. "It's not Annie or Fiddler so it teaches them to respect what everyone else has to offer."

Miller said theater teaches people "how to treat others and how to treat yourself."

"It also teaches you how to play and behave and how to control yourself," he said.

Tengood said the cast is indebted to Janette Williams who created the costumes; her son, Alex, the stage manager for the production; Joanne Hoffman, who helped make the set and scenery; Christi Ann McCulloch, the seventh-grade language-arts teacher; and all the parents who volunteered.

Since the Upper Freehold Regional Middle School's Drama Club sold out both performances on Jan. 14 and 15, the club has posted another performance on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available for this performance.

"Once on This Island Junior" is a part of The Broadway Junior Collection with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. The play is based on the novel "My Love, My Love" by Rosa Guy.