Almost 20 years after she missed the boat to star in “Once on This Island” at Guthrie’s Pollard Theatre , Oklahoma City actress DeLanie Phillips Brewer is leaping at the chance to finally join a production of the groundbreaking Caribbean-inspired musical .
“An opportunity came up 19 years ago, and realized I was going to be eight months pregnant. We couldn’t have hidden that, and it would not have gone with the role. So, I missed that opportunity,” Phillips Brewer said.
After wrapping its three-show summer Civic Center season in early August, Lyric Theatre is returning to the Plaza District and transporting audiences to the French West Indies for “Once on This Island .” Oklahoma’s official state theater is revisiting the fairytale musical with performances Sept. 18-Oct. 6 at the Plaza Theatre.
Starring Tony Award winner LaChanze (“The Color Purple”), “Once on This Island” debuted on Broadway in 1990 , playing for more than a year and drumming up eight Tony nominations, including best musical. In late 2017, a new production bowed on Broadway that went on to win the 2018 Tony Award for best revival of a musical .