A narrative told in song and dance, "Once On This Island" has layered origins that make it both a unique and familiar musical fable.

The Village Theatre production, a creation of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the Broadway team whose "Seussical" is happily ensconced at Seattle Children's Theatre this month, is another local offering that deserves a family visit.

"Once On This Island," set in the French Antilles, is based on the novel "My Love, My Love" by Rosa Guy, itself a Caribbean-flavored variation on Hans Christian Andersen's famous story, "The Little Mermaid."

The play imparts the tale of Ti Moune, a young peasant girl saved during a terrible flood by gods who select her for a special fate. (At the Village Theatre, Ti Moune is played as a child by Alexandria Gray and Madison Willis, and as a young woman by Lisa Estridge.)

Raised by a kindly couple (Faith Bennett Russell and T. Edwin Pettiford), Ti Moune proves to be a force of nature, bold and grand in spirit. She is much beloved by a black community that won its freedom from French colonialists after a hard fight.

But like her family and neighbors, Ti Moune accepts that the remaining French aristocracy live on one end of the island and she lives on the other. That changes when Ti Moune saves the life of a handsome fellow: Daniel (David Devine), the mixed-race son of a wealthy Frenchman. In the process, she makes a deal with the god of death (Ty Willis), and promises her own life in exchange for his.

Kids may have a fuller appreciation of Ti Moune's actions in this story if they're familiar with Andersen's mermaid. (No, Disney doesn't count.) Her promise eventually leads to a destiny larger than her dreams.

Along the way, each character's thoughts, every story turn and emotion are conveyed through Flaherty's music and Ahrens' lyrics, Chris Daigre's robust choreography (which expresses so much about the islanders' way of life that it substitutes for dialogue), Faith Seetoo's sensitive musical direction and director David Bennett's expansive, timeless tone.

The show's 12 actors sing gloriously, never stop moving and convey a passion so rich it can take awhile to let in. But it's worth it.