‘Once’ at Chance Theater

onguyen314
2 hours ago
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A quiet, heartfelt love story and joyous musical journey.

From Left: Morgan Hollingsworth, Jennifer Richardson, Mike Bradecich, Joseph Dailey, Lex Leigh, Will Huse, Austin Ledger. Rehearsal Photo courtesy of Timothy Huynh.

by Anne Reid

At a moment when the world feels increasingly fractured by grief, isolation and uncertainty, the musical “Once” arrives not as an escape from reality but as a gentle, deeply human response to it.

With a book by Enda Walsh and music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, “Once” is based on the Academy Award-winning film that tells the story of a chance encounter that sparks a weeklong collaboration full of music and dreams.

Director James McHale believes the timing could not be more urgent.

“There’s a lot of hurt and pain in the world right now,” he says. “One of the characters even says, ‘We’re all a bit lonely.’”

The story follows two unnamed characters known simply as Guy and Girl. He’s a struggling Dublin street musician nursing heartbreak and stalled ambition; she’s a Czech immigrant, a pianist with her own quiet disappointments and responsibilities. Their connection forms almost accidentally, around shared music rather than... [ Read the full article here ]