As one half of The Swell Season, Irglová composed and starred in the film version, which won an Oscar for Best Song. She released "Anar," her first full-length solo album in October.
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* Once, the new stage musical based on the Oscar-winning film about an Irish singer-songwriter named Guy, who meets a muse in the person of a Czech immigrant named Girl, opened at Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre March 18 following previews from Feb. 28. The stage version borrows the 2007 movie's songs by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who also played the would-be lovers in the film. The stage experience offers two additional numbers — "Abandoned in Bandon" and the Czech folk song "Ej Pada Pada Rosicka."
A company of 13 actor-musicians performs all roles and serves as the on-stage orchestra in the fable about a stuck troubadour fearful about moving forward. (A pre-show jam session is a reason to show up early at the Jacobs on West 45th Street; beer is served on stage — playgoers are welcome to commingle up there.) Opening night is March 18.
The cast of Once features Steve Kazee (110 in the Shade, Spamalot) as Guy and Cristin Milioti (Off-Broadway's That Face, Stunning, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter) as Girl. The performers have New York credits, of course, but these are considered serious breakout performances. Also in the troupe are David Abeles, Will Connolly, Elizabeth A. Davis, David Patrick Kelly as Guy's Da, Anne L. Nathan as Girl's mother, Lucas Papaelias, Ripley Sobo, Andy Taylor, Mckayla Twiggs, Erikka Walsh, Paul Whitty and J. Michael Zygo.
Once has a book by Irish playwright Enda Walsh (Penelope), direction by John Tiffany (Black Watch), movement by Steven Hoggett (American Idiot, Black Watch) and set and costume design by Tony Award winner Bob Crowley (The Coast of Utopia, Mary Poppins).
The Off-Broadway company of the new musical Once gathered Jan. 17, two days after the show ended its Off-Broadway run at NYTW in the East Village, to record a cast album of the unique ensemble-driven show. The album was released on the Masterworks Broadway label March 13.
The 2007 Academy Award-winning film "Once" was written and directed by John Carney. It won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Once began performances at NYTW on Nov. 15, 2011, and opened Dec. 6. Prior to that, it played a developmental engagement at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, MA, in April 2011.
Once is produced by Barbara Broccoli, John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo, Brian Carmody, Michael G. Wilson, Orin Wolf, The Shubert Organization, and Executive Producer Robert Cole.
Here's how the producers characterize the musical: "[Once] tells the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together. Brought to the stage by an award-winning team of visionary artists and featuring an ensemble cast of gifted actor/musicians, Once is a musical celebration of life and love: thrilling in its originality, daring in its honesty... and unforgettable in every way."
Tickets for the Broadway production are on sale via Telecharge.com or by phone at (212) 239-6200.
For more information, visit www.oncemusical.com.
