“Oh, it's just a couple of steps," Breon Arzell says, laughing. "Dance is how we tell stories. That's how stories are told within our community. There's a fair bit of movement."
Arzell is both the director and choreographer for Cape Fear Regional Theatre's upcoming production, Once On This Island. Arzell is outspoken and full of laughs. He jokes around with the actors beside him and always seems to be smiling. Arzell has done many productions before, but usually as the choreographer.
"I stop and say, 'Oh right, it's my vision. Leading the ship,’" Azrzell laughs again, pretending to look behind him.
He says he always choreographed numbers that aren't usually choreographed. For him, movement is the story. He says he loves taking final numbers that don't include movement and figures out how to do it a little differently.
"Most people do a park and bark. Me being extra, I wanted to add some extra body and movement."
Beside Arzell is Kendall Stewart, who plays Ti Moune, the main character, and Gerard Williams who plays Agwe, a god in the production. This production is a sort of retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen version of The Little Mermaid but set in Haiti with deep roots in Haitian and Creole culture. For Stewart, she says she didn't know much about the culture before being cast.
"A lot of this process has been unlearning a lot of things about Haitian culture. The way Breon has set up this process with so much care ... It is such a beautiful representation of Haitian culture," Stewart says.
Arzell can't help but break into this part of the conversation. The smile that has sat plumly across his face softens and fades into a more serious look.
"That has been a challenge for a lot of our actors,” Arzell says. "Taking away the Western ideas of what this culture is."
They say Arzell will often tell them to remove their Western ideas and understand that something doesn't mean what they think it does in this culture.
Kendall believes this is the perfect production and message for the residents of Cumberland County.
"I'm hoping they are going to take in a lot of learning about a place and people that they might not have known before. It spans and connects to everyone. This community seems like a very connected town. This community seems very connected. It will inspire them to feel love, compassion, family and community. I think it will hit home."
And of course, they say, the community will get time away from the cares of the world. Attendees will get a moment to be transported into a different story and fall in love with the culture, music and movement.
"I love audience members getting to depart from whatever is happening in the world at the moment," Williams says. "They'll get something extraordinary in this experience. It’s going to be a new discovery. They think they have an idea of what they are coming to see, but they are gonna get so much more. Just being a part of the island."
Once On This Island began May 15 and will run through June at CFRT’s temporary location at 1707 Owen Drive. Tickets range from $19 to $37. For more information, visit cfrt.org.
"It's one of the most beautiful scripts I have witnessed," says CFRT’s marketing director, Ashley Owen. "I have a visceral response to the music. You feel it in your bones and in your soul. It's exactly what everyone needs right now. It's so rich and vibrant and healing in a way."

(Photo courtesy of Cape Fear Regional Theatre)