An island of make-believe

In a tiny dance studio at the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach, teenage artists from the Gallimaufry’s Generation GAP work out the final choreography for their upcoming musical “Once on This Island,” a Caribbean adaptation of “The Little Mermaid.”

The play uses ethnic rhythms and a narrative, collective style of singing to carry the plot forward. It is refreshing in its simplicity and focus on melody, rather than dramatic props and costumes -- although the group managed to borrow the Victorian set from the Gallimaufry’s recent production of “Meet Me in St. Louis,” for use as a fancy hotel.

The dialogue is equally spare; choreography is used as a primary expository device.

“It makes it so that you don’t need anything else to tell the story,” Gallimaufry executive producer Steve Josephson said.

Generation GAP productions are entirely self-produced, a fact of which its participants are proud.

Director Brian Drummy alluded to it while trying to explain the motivation of one of the characters.

“He’s showing his teenage independence, as we all have experienced in this room,” he said to the group. The kids laugh.

The musical is infused with more than a touch of “Tristan and Iseult,” as it features star-crossed lovers who meet when wealthy Daniel Beauxhomme is gravely wounded in a car crash.

Ti Moune, of the island’s nearby peasant village, nurses him back to health and falls in love with him, giving her life to the gods in exchange for Daniel’s.

Although each actor has a specific part, they take on a variety of roles.

“We’re also storytellers -- we basically assume the part of whatever is going on,” said Ellie Sabry, who portrays the goddess Asaka.

The students are a close-knit group, sharing clothing for costumes, giving rides and helping with lines.

The students all have an opportunity to work on both their singing and dancing during this production. Sabry also worked as assistant choreographer with Vanessa Ruiz, who portrays Mama Euralie in the musical.

The dancers are charismatic, flowing through complicated routines with ease ? when they aren’t bumping into each other.

“In this room, we literally bang into the walls,” actress Karina Parker said.

A far more costly issue is just getting to the rehearsals.

“For me, it’s an hour drive,” Sabry said. She attends the Orange County High School of the Arts, like many other Generation GAP participants, and lives north of Los Alamitos.

“We all went out and got our own costumes,” Sabry said.

“Everybody brought in whatever they had,” said actress Sarah Morris, who also worked on the costumes. She provided one of her own dresses to be redesigned as a costume.

Wardrobe components are used throughout the play to suggest different characters, Morris explained. They need to be easy to put on and remove, as the actors don’t have time to go offstage and do a full costume change.

The fabrics are loose and drapey; jersey and cotton crepe are a staple of the design aesthetic. The joy at mounting a new production is bittersweet, though. Drummy is off to Chapman University this fall and will be too old to participate in future Generation GAP productions.cpt.21-island-2-BPhotoInfoL31T4QJP20060721j2okvoncCaption: (LA)At left, Generation GAP dancers Lauren Mitchell, Daniel Wargo and Dennis Lakomski rehearse a song-and-dance routine for “Once on This Island.” Below, the teen dancers, including Erika Tang, in foreground, rehearse. cpt.21-island-1-BPhotoInfoL31T4QI020060721j2okvlncCredit: Caption: (LA)Gallimaufry dancers Lauren Mitchell, Daniel Wargo and Dennis Lakomski rehearse a song-and-dance routine for “Once on this Island.”