BWW Reviews: ONCE Offers Bittersweet Love Story at Saenger

To view "ONCE" at the Saenger Theatre for St. Patrick's Day was a great decision.

The production, which opened Tuesday as part of the Saenger's Broadway in New Orleans series, has the feeling of a quiet night at the local pub. Almost quite literally in fact. Before the show and during the intermission, you can rub elbows with the locals, sip a pint, and listen to the musicians chasing their melodic dreams. While I did not have a green beer in hand, this was the perfect end to the Irish holiday.

Based on the 2006 Irish indie film, this beautiful melancholy Broadway hit is a love story of a different kind. "ONCE" revolves around the fateful meeting between Guy (Stuart Ward), a dejected Dublin musician who works as a vacuum repair man in his father's shop, and Girl (Dani de Waal), a Czech piano player who hears him singing one of his songs and recognizes a genuine artist albeit with a fragile heart. Noticing that he is about to abandon his guitar, she intervenes and barters with him to fix her broken vacuum. All the while, she is coming up with a play to heal his bruised heart and help him rediscover his love of music.

"ONCE" transcends the typical "boy-meets-girl" troupe and is a romance in which two people fall in love, though they are not meant to live happily ever after. Rather, together they help one another surpass the obstacles that are keeping them from fulfilling their destiny. After knowing her for only a few days, Girl helps Guy organize a recording studio session with help from their family and friends knowing that he is meant for great things in New York, though she knows it means never seeing him again. Both Ward and De Waal excel at playing two lovers whose love will forever go unresolved. Far too bittersweet, and yet there was great satisfaction in having my heart broken by their love story.

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who co-wrote the score (and were the stars of the film), tailored the music both to specific cultural milieus and individual characters. While the music is often transcendent, the moments of stillness hindered the show as it often made the pace feel sluggish. With that said, it's to be noted that the music is the superior element to the show. When not a focus onstage, the supporting cast members sit off to the side, quietly observing or doubling as musicians. At certain points in the show, there is a rising mixture of mandolin, violin, cello, guitar and banjo, rising up like a great wave of pure, emotional intensity. The main problems occur for the characters when there isn't any music to be heard. There is simply just more drama within the song lyrics, rather than the dialogue of the play.

Of course, the show's main hit is "Falling Slowly," the song that won an Academy Award. It takes a place of pride in this musical adaptation, with Ward having the musical chops of a rock star, raw and real in his vocals and guitar strumming. It was this song that had me making a beeline at the end of the show to pick up a copy of the soundtrack, which I've listened to obsessively ever since.

This was an incredible touring production, and was a triumph in the Saenger. Simply put, it cannot be seen just once.