Mackenzie Lesser-Roy News

The John W. Engeman Theater began performances of Once on Thursday, January 18 at 8:00pm. The show will run through Sunday, March 4, 2018. Check out photos from the show's opening night below!

Based on the 2006 indie hit film, Once tells the captivating love story about Irish musician Guy and Czech immigrant Girl and how they are drawn to each other based on their shared love for music. From the moment Guy and Girl meet, the audience is enraptured by their chemistry and wait at the edge of their seats, gasping for air, watching how the next scene will either result in a stepping stone or a set back for their relationship.

Last Saturday I attended the Broadway tour of Once The Musical. I knew that they had won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2012, but I had never really looked into the show.  I had expected it to be not my favorite of the Broadway series at The Hanover Theatre, but I had been totally wrong. The music was mesmerizing, and the set was cleverly done. Before the show, they let the audience up on stage to buy their drinks from the bar in the pub set that they had created. Not only did that set double as a pub, but also a music store, a house, a Hoover repair shop and much more. Without large changes of sets, they created these different environments with tables, chairs, and a change of lighting. Sam Cieri and Mackenzie Lesser-Roy were strong leads as Guy and Girl followed by an equally strong cast of characters. The simple staging of the show made the small moments usually missed by the audience, more exposed and made the show more emotional. Kudos to Steven Hoggett, the movement director, for flawlessly using movement to move the show along in an eye catching way. Overall, it was a beautifully written and performed musical, that I would see again if I had the chance and would recommend to friends! 

In every sense of the word, ONCE arrived at The Capitol Strand Performing Arts Center on February 1, 2017, for one night only. The musical is the winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards® and is a theatrical experience like no other.

This weekend the Velma V. Morrison Center brought us ONCE, based on the 2007 movie of the same name. The low budget film won an Oscar for for the best original song 'Falling Slowly', and I am thrilled that most of the music (the best part of the movie) is included in the musical version.

ONCE, the award-winning stage musical based on the award-winning film of the same name, is an obvious addition to Broadway.  Featuring songs written by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who also starred in the film, this production seems like it can't miss.  Unfortunately, despite excellent music and vocal and musical performances from an obviously talented cast, this production's book, by Irish playwright Enda Walsh,  seems to assume that the only people who would be interested in this show are those who have seen the movie.  Therefore, there is next-to-no character development, and random scenes inserted that make no sense to anyone not intimately familiar with the source material.  Since this is a show about music and musicians, one would think that story goes out the window then in favor of reworking this as almost a musical revue, rather than a traditional narrative.  That would have worked, since the story is a sweetly simple one and doesn't require much, but the choice was made instead to shoehorn in extra scenes of dialogue, most of which take far longer and meader far more than necessary to advance the plot, and wind up creating something that is just dull and lazy.

This is the sort of production you can slip into easily; find yourself there in the story. It's an ordinary story about an extraordinary thing-yet another reason to love it. The Girl reignites the music in the Guy; she takes him in hand (and hoover) to fall slowly back into song, back into hope, and back into love.

Once, winner of eight 2012 Tony® Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play the National Theatre for a limited engagement from November 25 -27, 2016. The cast will feature Sam Cieri as "Guy" and Mackenzie Lesser-Roy as "Girl," along with Lily Caputo, Jenn Chandler, Barry DeBois, Nyssa Duchow, Liam Fennecken, Lynn Flickinger, Isaac Haas, John Hays,Julia Hoffmann, Angel Lin, Bristol Pomeroy, Adam Huel Potter, Lauren Thomas, Dan Tracy, Grant Alan Watkins, and Luke Wygodny. Additional casting to be announced soon.

Once is definitely not your typical Broadway musical. It does not implement nor does it require the razzle dazzle that is usually typical of musical theatre. Instead there is a subtle intimacy and ease to the storytelling. From the moment you enter the theatre, you are transported to another place, a Dublin bar to be exact. The show uses creative staging as the audience is able to traverse the stage to buy a drink at the bar and are then surrounded by the actors/musicians as they jam out to some Irish folk music.

Starlight Theatre's Broadway season stepped off Friday evening with the offbeat, intimate 'Once' based on a 2007 film of the same name. The film became a cult favorite and earned the 2008 Academy Award for Best Song 'Falling, Slowly.' Rewritten for the stage and transformed into a full-fledged musical, 'Once' the musical earned eight 2012 Tony Awards including Best New Musical.

ONCE, winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play the State Theatre on Tuesday, April 12.  Tickets for ONCE are available now and can be purchased by visiting the State Theatre Box Office, 453 Northampton Street, Easton, by calling 1-800-999-STATE, 610-252-3132 or online at www.statetheatre.org.

ONCE, winner of eight 2012 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play the Marcus Center for a limited engagement from April 5-10 as part of the Associated Bank Broadway at the Marcus Center series.

Guy meets girl. They make some music. And they either end up together or apart, delighting or devastating their respective audiences. It's just as typical a story as the romance of the Broadway musical (and usually has a similar effect). Well, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's Once is hailed for dashing the typical boy meets girl tale, and its North American tour installment does not seem to do typical either. Magic was made at New Haven's Shubert Theatre last night as the cast of Once took their first bow of the weekend (and received the first of what are likely to become many standing ovations).

Beloved folk/indie blend Broadway musical ONCE will, once more, hit the road.

With its first national tour wrapped, beloved folk/indie blend Broadway musical ONCE will, once more, hit the road. A new national tour of the eight-time Tony winning musical will launch in January 2016 in Utica, NY, before traveling coast-to-cast, with stops in Los Angeles, Detroit and more planned. ROCK OF AGES alum Sam Cieri and Boston Conservatory student Mackenzie Lesser-Roy will lead the cast. The company just met the press and BroadwayWorld is taking you inside the special day below!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Rosie's Theater Kids get a shout-out from the First Lady and more!

With its first national tour wrapped, beloved folk/indie blend Broadway musical ONCE will, once more, hit the road.

The new short film ALBUM, written and directed by David Rimmer, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist long-running play, has been accepted into the NYC Independent Film Festival. The short will screen on Sunday, October 21st at 1pm at the Producer's Club, 358 West 44th Street in Manhattan.