Once

This afternoon, we saw Once.  I haven't seen the movie that it was based on, but I definitely will pick it up in the future.  This is a musical about creating music.   Simple story, a guy is a musician, but the girl in his life left, leaving a him with a case of writer's block.  Enter the new girl, who then becomes his muse, and they create great works together.   Now, the way that it's told is amazing.

There is no orchestra for this performance.  All of the actors on stage play the music.  There were probably only a dozen people on stage, playing everything from violin to drums.   The setting is an Irish pub, and the production creates intimacy with the audience by having it serve as a real bar before the show and during intermission.  I think they served whiskey and beer.  Most of the performers were on stage and playing Celtic music as audience members meandered around.

Once is the type of a new genre of musicals that scale things down, rather than the traditional humongous Broadway shows that have lots of flash and bang.  This production really does a wonderful job telling the story and demonstrating how the music really works with it.