The IU Auditorium will present the musical “Once” at 8 p.m. April 19 and April 20.
“Once” is an adaptation of the 2007 film of the same title. The film was written and directed by John Carney, and it starred musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová.
The musical includes a score by Hansard and Irglová, whose song “Falling Slowly” won an Academy Award in 2008 for Best Original Song. The film soundtrack was also nominated for a Grammy Award.
“Once” is about a Dublin street musician and a young woman who becomes interested and involved in his music. As their relationship progresses, “their unlikely connection turns out to be deeper and more complex than your everyday romance,” according to the musical’s website.
After Broadway success, the show began touring North America in 2013. This iteration of the touring show began in January and is in the midst of a tour that lasts through late May.
The original Broadway production of the show won eight Tony awards in 2012, including Best Musical, beating out “Leap of Faith,” “Newsies” and “Nice Work if You Can Get It.”
That production’s lead actor, Steve Kazee, also took the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, and “Once” was nominated for three other awards, including Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Its 11 total nominations and eight wins were the most of any play or musical in the 2012 Tonys.
In 2013, the Broadway production also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
It has been praised for “redefining what it means to be a Broadway musical,” according to the IU Auditorium website.
“Once” features actors and musicians who play their own instruments on stage.
The production is both “emotionally captivating and theatrically breathtaking,” according to the “Once” website.
A review in the New Yorker said the show is “unusually fun and heartfelt musical theatre.”
The musical is “an unforgettable story about going for your dreams, not living in fear and the power of music to connect all of us,” according to the IU Auditorium website.
Tickets range from $39 to $65 for general admission and from $21 to $44 for students.
Brooke McAfee
