Simple love story of ‘ Once’ soothes ears
Performers bring purity to wistful Dublinmusical
“Once” you’ve had your heart broken, you can only see the world through wistful eyes. From music to food, nothing you experience burns quite as brightly as it did before. Life goes on, but without the same zing, until that fateful day when you find yourself falling hard once more.
That shattering emotional journey, from melancholy to ecstasy and back, is captured in all its poignancy in the Tony- winning musical “Once,” a touring production that runs through Sunday, part of the Broadway San Jose series.
Inspired by the 2006 indie film of the same name, this is a small, delicate musical that isn’t afraid to be quiet when the moment calls for it. Created by director John Tiffany (“Black Watch”), writer Enda Walsh (“The Walworth Farce,” “The New Electric Ballroom”) and choreographer Steven Hoggett (“American Idiot”), with a score by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, “Once” is that rarest of all Tony- winning musicals, an intoxicating romantic gem that you will want to see again and again.
Grab a pint onstage before the show or during intermission if you want this endearing musical to feel even more immersive. Tiffany is a master at world building. Here the audience instantly feels like one of the regulars at a Dublin pub, brimming with yarns and jigs, where a Guy ( a dashing Stuart Ward) meets a Girl ( a vivacious Dani de Waal). This is a pub ( understated set design by Bob Crowley) as a microcosm of the village, the heart of the community, a place where you go to share your hopes and your woes.
The Guy is a native Dubliner, fiercely proud of his city. A broken hearted singer- songwriter still wounded from a lost love, he gets swept away by the charms of the Girl. She’s a single mom, a recent Czech immigrant with no money but big dreams and a love of music that redeems all Guy ( Stuart Ward) and Girl ( Dani de Waal) fall in love and make beautiful music together ( literally) in “Once,” playing at the Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose. the hardships in her life. She charms her way into a local music shop where the owner ( Joshua Carter) is so smitten with her that he lets her play the piano for free.
They meet just as Guy is reaching a turning point, a moment of despair when he ponders giving up his dreams of music and settling in to despair. He lives above his father’s vacuum repair shop, raging at the woman that has done him wrong.
Both Ward and de Waal light the songs from within, from the infectious “When Your Mind’s Made Up” to the Oscar winning “Falling Slowly.” Hansard and Irglova’s lovely score is a rich and memorable tapestry of violin, cello, guitar and banjo that’s impossible to stop humming.
All of the performers here play instruments as well as act and sing and the purity of the staging is part of its uniqueness. While there are a few moments when the show feels stretched too thin, as we wait to see if true love with triumph or if loss will strike
‘ ONCE’
By EndaWalsh, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, presented by Broadway San Jose Through: Sunday Where: Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd. San Jose Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes, with intermission Tickets: $ 33-$ 83; 800- 9822787, www. broadwaysanjose. com Online: Go to www. mercurynews. com/ theater to see a video of “Once” stars Stuart Ward and Dani de Waal performing “Falling Slowly.” once more, “Once” dazzles with its refreshing lack of flash and formula. It’s like no other Broadway musical out there.
The Center for the Performing Arts may be too big a venue for such an intimate show, but the piece is magical enough to win us over anyway. The genius of “Once” is its simplicity and the aching beauty of the songs will seduce the ear from start to finish.