Once

4 out of 4 stars from Chicago Tribune

Book by Enda Walsh. Music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. Based on the Motion Picture Written and Directed by John Carney.

People come into our lives for a reason. Sometimes it leaves us with joy, other times with sorrow. But it’s what we do with those chance encounters that truly defines who we are.

He was a singer about to give up his dream. She was a patron entranced by his music. It was a fateful meeting spurred by their shared love for music. Guy and Girl, as they’re known throughout the show, begin their relationship when he tells her of his day job as a vacuum cleaner repairman at his father’s shop. Lucky for him, she’s got a Hoover that “doesn’t suck.” When she asks him to fix it, she says she can only pay for the repair with a song. That song is all it takes for Guy and Girl to fall in love, but with that love also comes some baggage. Guy has an ex he can’t get out of his head, and Girl has an estranged husband and a daughter. What’s holding them back couldn’t be heavier, but when it comes to love, the only thing that can stop them is life.

Hailed as “glorious and inspiring,” “gorgeous” and “complete magic,” Once is based on the Oscar-winning movie and is an eight-time Tony Award-winning musical, including Best Musical, Best Actor and Best Book. It is both big and grand in its themes of love and longing, yet simple and subtle in its execution. In today’s world where we’re all struggling to connect, despite a million ways to do so, sometimes the simplest way is through song.