ONCE THE MUSICAL at Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

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2. ONCE THE MUSICAL

Winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards® including Best Musical, ONCE is a truly original Broadway experience. Featuring an impressive ensemble of actor/musicians who play their own instruments onstage, ONCE tells the enchanting tale of a Dublin street musician who’s about to give up on his dream when a beautiful young woman takes a sudden interest in his haunting love songs. As the chemistry between them grows, his music soars to powerful new heights…but their unlikely connection turns out to be deeper and more complex than your everyday romance. Emotionally captivating and theatrically breathtaking, ONCE draws you in from the very first note and never lets go. It’s an unforgettable story about going for your dreams and the power of music to connect us all.

Guy is an Irish singer and songwriter who spends his days fixing vacuums in the Dublin shop he runs with his father, and his nights playing his music in local pubs. He is on the verge of giving up music altogether when a Czech immigrant, “Girl,” walks into the bar, hears him play and refuses to let him abandon his guitar. As it turns out, she has a broken vacuum cleaner, Guty repairs it, and she pays him in music on a piano she plays in a record shop. Over the course of a week, Girl convinces Guy to believe in the power of his music and his love for the woman who inspired his songs. They scrape together money to record a demo album with a motley crew of bar friends, and their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful—but very complicated—love story.

ONCE has something of the feel of a pub concert, and every effort is made to give the audience an intimate evening with the characters. Before the show, the actors, who are also the show’s musicians, play Irish standards in the Dublin pub set, and audience members are invited to join them for a drink from the onstage bar. Since ONCE is about musicians, the show feels like a play with music, because the songs are a natural part of the storyline and there is no spontaneous bursting into song. While the bittersweet love story between Guy and Girl is the show’s central plotline, there is plenty of humor from colorful characters like Girl’s Czech roommates, an Irish bank manager and surly music store owner. The tuneful score expands on the original movie’s Oscar-winning hit, “Falling Slowly.”
Ages: ONCE is a love story, but it doesn’t go past a PG-13 rating. There is a smattering of four-letter words and some mild sexual innuendo, but other than that it’s pretty clean. Kids would dig the communal feel of the piece, and the joy these actor-musicians clearly feel playing together is infectious for people of all ages.