A taste of the Caribbean in Rockville Centre

The spirit of the Caribbean transformed South Side Middle School’s stage on April 1 and 2, as a troupe of 45 students performed “Once on This Island,” the mythical tale of a beautiful peasant girl who saves the life of a young aristocrat after his car crashes near her village. After making a deal with the island gods to spare his life, she travels across the island to his wealthy world, where he falls in love with her. There is no happy ending, but she makes sacrifices in the name of love, sparing his life again and forever watching over him.

Based on the novella, “My Love, My Love” by Trinidadian author Rosa Guy, the re-telling of this “Little Mermaid” tale was filled with dazzling Caribbean and pop music, ethnic dances and traditional story-telling techniques.

Quinn Lysaght starred in the school’s annual spring revue as the peasant girl, with Skye Marshall and Jonathan DeTullio as her parents, Jack McCabe as the aristocrat, Thomas Weiss as his father, Olivia Dowden as his finance, Dylan Trefcer, Darcie Lynch, Jacob Fink and Sophia Ray as the four storytellers, and Sam Rachmuth, Rita Gentile, Connor Coniglio and Alexandra Baker as the four island gods.