Disney Plus working on Once On This Island musical film
© Joan Marcus
Disney is reportedly working on a film version of award-winning musical Once On This Island.
Rather than being a captured performance like Hamilton, the new film will be adapted for the screen like Cats, Les Misérables or In the Heights.
A release date for the film adaptation is to be confirmed, with Marc Platt (Wicked) producing the feature. It is being penned by playwright Jocelyn Bioh (School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play) and director Wanuri Kahiu (From a Whisper), according to Hollywood Reporter.
The one-act musical, about a young peasant girl who falls for a rich boy on a, was first seen on Broadway thirty years ago, and was recently revived in New York where it was nominated for eight Tony Awards.
With book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, it was originally staged in the UK in 1994 (transferring to the West End the following year) and went on to win the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. It was later revived in 2007, with both versions starring Sharon D Clarke.
Once On This Island is adapted from My Love, My Love or, The Peasant Girl by Rosa Guy, and is set in the French Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. Casting for the film is to be announced.
