By John Quinn

Posted: Feb. 5, 2015 at 5:53 p.m.

Hot on the high heels of the Tony Award winning musical, “Kinky Boots,” Broadway in Detroit and the Fisher Theatre present another prize winner. “Once” received eleven, 2012 Tony Award nominations, and won eight, including best musical. All in all, “Once” has received more awards that you can shake a shillelagh at.

“Once” is unconventional. Like many other musicals, it is a stage adaptation of a movie, but that flick is a product of Dublin, Ireland, not Hollywood, USA. There is no orchestra; each actor is also a musician. When not “center,” they sit stage left and stage right, observing the scene and providing musical back-up. Finally, “Once” is a mise en scene of Dublin’s alternative music industry and the set design recreates a pub. After all, when you’re Irish, good music and good alcohol are as natural a pair as bacon and eggs. However, my thirsty followers, this bar is open to the audience before the curtain and at intermission.

Irish pubs resound with music, and the facsimile on the Fisher stage is no different. Patrons arriving for the show will find the party already underway, and it’s difficult to determine when the play actually begins. But one voice dominates; Stuart Ward’s, the protagonist, who introduces himself with “Leave,” a vocally-challenging tour-de-force of primal heartbreak. Though firmly in the acoustic-rock tradition, the score for “Once” is edgy; this is not your father’s “Riverdance.”

Our Guy is giving up his music; the love of is life has moved to New York City. About to leave his scarred guitar behind forever, he’s stopped by a Girl (Dani de Waal). She’s an immigrant, a musician and a hard-headed, practical woman: “I’m always serious. I’m Czech.” Over a life-changing week, the Girl becomes the Guy’s muse and collaborator, writing and recording a demonstration CD that might launch his career in the U. S. Collaborator, yes, but no “hanky-panky.” “Once” examines the bonds music establishes between – and among – musicians; bonds so strong they make everything else seem mere flirtation.

The film version of “Once” was written and directed by John Carney. Music and lyrics were by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who played the leads in the film. When Irish playwright Enda Walsh tackled the adaptation for the stage, he has added balance to the roles. Since “Once” is so much about the Guy’s coming of age as an artist, of taking risks both personal and professional, Stuart Ward would have ended up doing the heavy lifting. But Dani de Waal’s sweet soprano and deadpan comic delivery is unforgettable, and the pair are well matched vocally.

Backing up the leads are a multi-talented troupe of artists, notably Evan Harrington as the easily agitated Billy, bourgeois to the core but ready to raise the red banner, and, Scott Waara’s gentle, downplayed Da, Guy’s father. But compelling performances are what weave this piece together, right down to Sarah McKinley Austin, playing the Girl’s daughter (surprise!). The role has no lines but the actress has eyes I could read from the 17th row.

“Once” is an energetic merge of traditional and alternative sensibilities, as honest and spare as the music that drives it. I am reminded that an American “rock-and-roll musical ‘bout ‘50s teens” turns 44 Feb. 5. Will “Once” stand the test of time, as “Grease” has? I wouldn’t be surprised.

SHOW DETAILS:
“Once”
Fisher Theatre
3011 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48202
8 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday, Feb. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12*, 13, 14
1 p.m. Sunday, Feb 8, 15
1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5
2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, 14
6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15
$30-90
2 hours 35 minutes (including a 15 minute intermission)
1-800-982-2787
www.broadwayindetroit.com

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