'Once' Upon A Time

Musical captures rare moments for actors, audience

Roles like the one actress Dani de Waal landed only come around once -- even if it took her six months of auditions to get it.

The British actress moved to America with the idea of performing in the states and, specifically, she had one role in mind. She had watched the movie "Once" not long after it came out in 2007, and it moved her. And she later watched the Broadway translation of the same story not long after it debuted in 2012.

FAQ

‘Once’

WHEN — 7 p.m. Wednesday & Thursday; 8 p.m. May 1; 2 & 8 p.m. May 2; 2 & 7:30 p.m. May 3

WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville

COST — $36-$78

INFO — 443-5600 or waltonartscenter.org

"I thought they'd done a great job transferring it," says de Waal by phone from Sacramento, Calif.

She was not the only one who thought so. "Once" earned several Tony Awards upon its introduction, including those for Best Musical, Best Actor and Best Book. It closed on Broadway in October after more than 1,000 performances. De Waal hoped to join the Broadway cast, but her timing instead worked out for the touring version of the musical, and she signed on for the October 2013 tour debut. The national tour of "Once" continues its run across the country, and it visits the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville for seven shows, beginning with a performance on Wednesday evening.

"Once" is set in Dublin and focuses on a street/pub musician called Guy. He's about ready to hang up his guitar but is encouraged by Girl, one of the patrons in the bar. They find connections via music, and they start writing songs together. She simultaneously discovers Guy's songs are dedicated to a girlfriend who has left him and moved to New York City. The show is set in a bar, and the musicians come and go from that place with a minimalist flourish, moving chairs to the side when they are no longer considered part of the scene. The onstage bar is a functional entity that patrons can visit and purchase a drink from, de Waal says.

And like the Irish traditional music scene the show finds inspiration in, the actors really do make music together. De Waal plays the piano on stage, and that was a critical element in the rehearsal process. Stuart Ward, also from England, is a singer-songwriter in his own right and performs the songs live as well. The story comes from a somewhat true-to-life tale, based on the Dublin busking scene known to musician Glen Hansard. His acting partner in the movie "Once," Marketa Irglova, would become his recording and touring partner in a duo called The Swell Season and, briefly, a romantic partner, too.

That kind of musical and personal connection resonates, de Waal says.

"This show can take you in lots of different directions, with universal themes," she says.

Those directions take audience members up and down.

"It is the same show as the movie, so it has darker elements, too," de Waal says.

But from those darker places comes an element of perseverance, the actress says, even if it doesn't always look that way for those characters.

"You're not to be with them forever, but those moments are important," de Waal says.

NAN What's Up on 04/24/2015

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