Rustin Cole Sailor

Though the Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of writer/director John Carney's well-liked indie film ONCE is a musical that this reviewer has liked quite a bit from past productions, it took seeing South Coast Repertory's brand new regional production---now on stage in Costa Mesa through September 30---for this reviewer to not only like it, but to truly adore it. From casting to staging and everything in between, SCR's enjoyable new mounting, under the astute direction of Kent Nicholson, is somehow much more emotional, thoughtful, and remarkably riveting than past touring productions. And though, yes, it is essentially the same source material, SCR's exquisite new iteration of this small, but genuinely endearing musical is by far the gold standard of how this show should look and feel in any and all future productions.