‘Once’ at the Beck Center entrances but does not transport

You may find yourself falling slowly in love nonetheless despite some flaws with musical adaptation of film

“Once” is a romantic piece of storytelling so unassuming that “Once upon a time” is too pretentious a preamble. And its melancholic tale of star-crossed love is so universal that the young, working-class dreamers at its center are identified only as “Guy” and “Girl.”

Based on the 2007 Indie movie by John Carney, this multiple Tony Award-winning musical composed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova revolves around a disheartened young street musician who is grieving over the loss of a girl, the lack of commercial prospects for his folk-rock songwriting and the isolation of living with his “Da” above their tiny repair shop in Dublin, Ireland.

The show opens with him singing one of his gorgeous, angst-filled Irish anthems, throwing away his guitar pick when the song is through and walking away from his guitar and his music forever. That is, until he is stopped in his tracks by a young Czech immigrant so blindly optimistic about his potential that she reinstates his passion for music and so absolutely adorable that he rediscovers love. But they are unable to act on their feelings toward each other because she is married to a man no longer in her heart and he is still connected to the woman who left.

What makes “Once” more than just another romantic tale of despondency is the absolutely charming way the story is told. Its creators threw away the elaborate production values they did not need and amplified the theatricality in everything they did.

Lyrical words that dig deep ride on charming melodies in the place of show tunes and spring so organically from the dialogue that they appear to be natural extensions of the emotions being played out. The ensemble consists of omnipresent actor-musicians who lie in wait with their string instruments for an opportunity to accompany the featured players. Fluid, expressive movement replaces more stagey choreography, and bodies sway as if gently pulled by unseen forces. Shadows are so essential they should get a credit in the program.

The audience’s endgame is to be transported from the hard world in which we live to the realm of heightened romanticism that has taken over the stage. While the Beck Center for the Arts’ production, under Victoria Bussert’s delicate direction, is marvelous in so many ways, it is never transcendental.

One reason is Bussert has moved the play from an Irish pub to a music store, realistically rendered by Jordan Janota. This is not a deal breaker, because isolating lighting courtesy of Steve Shack creates the illusion of the players appearing in different locations. But there is something implicitly hospitable about a pub — the instantaneous comradery among strangers, the confessionary function of the barkeep, the ability to serve drinks on stage at intermission — that is particularly conducive to Irish storytelling. At least, that’s what Eugene O’Neill (“The Iceman Cometh”), J.M. Synge (“The Playboy of the Western World”) and Conor McPherson (“The Weir”) believe.

Perhaps it is fitting that the bar has been disregarded considering “Once” has been cast almost exclusively with under-legaldrinking-age musical-theater majors from Baldwin Wallace University, where Bussert calls home. We can’t blame her. Kelsey Brown, as Girl, and Jake Slater, as Guy, are natural, exceptionally talented performers who take your breath away during “Falling Slowly” and “If You Want Me.” And the 12-member ensemble consists of terrific singers, as the occasional a cappella opportunities showcase.

But they are not master musicians, which is exactly what a show like this requires to make all that music transportive. And they should be so moved when they overhear the conversations between Guy and Girl while residing on the periphery of the stage that they impulsively join in on the harmonies and instrumentation, as if they can’t contain their own emotions. Audience members would most assuredly do the same, and join in on Gregory Daniel’s graceful choreography, if we knew the lyrics, had a guitar handy and could dance. But in this production, the ensemble anticipates their involvement by getting instruments off the wall and readying themselves for insertion, which breaks the magic that the creators worked so diligently to establish.

And because everyone is so young, the story becomes just a little less universal.

Still, this simple, sentimental story is delightful and should be seen at least once.

ROGER MASTROIANNI Jake Slater, as Guy, and Kelsey Brown, as Girl, perform in the Beck Center for the Arts’ production of “Once.”