Once Reviews

Jess from Boston, Massachusetts

A UNIQUE, INTIMATE AND ENGAGING MUSICAL!

A unique, intimate and engaging musical! Quirky characters and witty one-liners combine perfectly with a heartfelt and inspiring story-line which saw me captivated from the first song. The extraordinary talent of the leads makes you feel privileged to be in the audience, and I guarantee you will be humming at least one of tunes on your way home.

Anonymous from Toronto, Ontario

AMAZING

I saw this yesterday and I loved it. The music was beautiful .

M Williamson from Toronto, Ontario

GREAT SURPRISE!

I was unsure what to expect and it was hauntingly beautiful.....my only criticism is that I bought the CD Soundtrack and the voices from the show were so amazing, I wish I could get a CD ffrom the Cast that sang in Toronto.....I loved it and would see it again..... Marissa Williamson

Anonymous from Peoria, Arizona

FABULOUS

We saw this in New York when it first came out. It is a wonderful show that my entire family (parents, husband, and children) all enjoyed.

Anonymous from Duluth, Minnesota

BETTER THAN THE MOVIE!

I saw Once while I was in Dublin last Spring and it was magical! So unique to any other stage production I've ever seen. Its a must see.

Anonymous from Columbia, MD, USA

NOTHING COMPARE TO THIS!

This is far and away the best musical I have ever seen. I am obsessed with it. I've seen it twice on Broadway so far, and seen the tour cast once (and hopefully a second time this spring at one of its other stops). If you haven't seen it, you must go!

Fctwilight from Denver, Colorado

BRAVO!

Thrush music!

Lou Katzler from Denver, Colorado

A MUST SEE.....

Pure entertainment!!!!! Thank you...

K. Lynch from Denver, Colorado

AMAZING, TENDER, AND TOUCHING STORY!

Loved all the characters! Enjoyed the music so much! Would highly recommend it!

Emily from Seattle, Washington

DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!

if you love the music or the movie--the play was amazing. exceeded all my expectations!

Valerie Paredes from San Francisco, California

UNBELIEVABLE TALENT

Bravo to the cast of Once. This is the best new musical I have seen. The talented actors put forth such emotion I felt like I had know them forever. I had tears streaming through the last two songs. Would love to see it again. BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO!!!

Simon A Robson from Spain visiting San Francisco, California

EXQUISITE

Defines perfection

Anonymous from Vancouver, British Columbia

AMAZEBALLS!

Seen this last night and all I can is "Amazeballs!"

from Colorado Springs, Colorado

LOVE THE MOVIE, CD & NOW THE PLAY

Stellar cast for this lovely, heartfelt story. Outstanding musical performances. Fun, funny, sweet. We loved it!

Deby Kalush from Davison, Michigan

NEVETNEVE

This was heaven. We loved it and plan to go again and again!!!? Definitely recommend it everyone!

Linda from Denver, Colorado

LOVED IT!

I absolutely LOVED this show! The music was fabulous (even better than the movie!) and the story was both touching and unexpected. Wonderful Irish accents--playful humor--and a great portrayal of love and sacrifice-- What's not to love?!

Anonymous from Los Angeles, California

HANSARD ROCKS

Loved the show. Loved the voices. And just love Glen Hansards music-why was I not there last night to see him in action???

No Names Please from Greenville, South Carolina

BE BRAVE

Great music and engaging cast!

from Boston, Massachusetts

NEED A STRONGER LEAD

Fabulous cast and production with the exception of the actor playing Guy, who doesn't project either his voice or his emotions. He has a nice voice, but he doesn't draw you in. Having seen the movie and other live productions of Once, this was enjoyable...but not the best.

Dennis from Denver, Colorado

A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT, WE LEFT AT INTERMISSION.

We saw this tonight in Denver. I had high expectations given that it won so many awards and had rave reviews on Broadway. What a disappointment. We go to the theatre often and this was the very first play where we left at intermission. This is not to say that the lead actor and actress were not talented. They had wonderful singing voices but they too often mumbled their lines to the point where I heard people whispering what did they say. I know the play had a subtle story line but it totally lacked excitement and could not hold our interest. It was so slow with awkward poises that the man seated behind me fell asleep and started to snore loudly. At intermission my wife and I turned to each other and said, it's time to leave. While I waited for my wife at the front door I talked with an employee of the theatre who was watching the door during the intermission. I told her we were disappointed and were leaving. She said quite a few people were leaving. Wish it weren't so.

John from New Haven, Connecticut

AWFUL

Once was pretty poor. Lead singer shrill, songs not very good, WAY overlong. I was praying for it to end. The second act was like watching paint dry. Many thought it was great: not me.

Once was more than enough from Seattle, Washington

SUNDAY NIGHT PERFORMANCE IN SEATTLE. NO. ENERGY. AT. ALL.

I've seen over 100 musicals and I have to say, I was not expecting to be so underwhelmed & utterly disappointed by Once. The concept of having the actors playing their own instruments as well as singing was fine, but man, was this musical boring! There was just no energy at all to this show. It doesn't help that the pre-show on-stage gathering of audience and cast members was accompanied by a rousing number of up-tempo songs and melodies that infused the place with a high-spirited energy. Energy, that was immediately sucked from the room the moment the musical started. Had I known this was 2+ hours of nothing but moody, down-tempo maudlin stuff (my bad for not doing more research), I might not have been so disappointed. I found the story pretty bad too. There was no conflict, nor anything for the Guy to overcome, and a confusing motivation from the Girl. Emotion is not story. Fear of communicating feelings is not conflict, Talented performers stuck in a lame story w/ dull music.

Carol from Seattle, Washington

SLOW

They were having trouble with the audio so everything was garbled. Even with that, the show never took off.

Broadway show lover from San Francisco, California

BORING

Terrible set decor, phony accents really not much of a story line

Ann from San Francisco, California

SURPRISINGLY DISAPPOINTED

My expectations were high as "Once" performed in NYC received an excellent review by my son and his wife, and the movie was also fantastic. The SF production was unbearably slow, the emotional connection between Guy and Girl was weak, the one line jokes were hard to hear even in my expensive $200+orchestra seat, Girl's talking voice was impossible to understand as she didn't project, and had a silly and unbelievable Czech accent that wavered into Irish half the time. The actors are undoubtedly talented - strong singing voices and playing a variety of instruments, but this show needed more than their talent to keep my interest. Save your money and rent the DVD!

DramaDog from Los Angeles, California

GREAT MUSIC IS THE ONLY REASON TO SEE THIS SHOW

Awful. Just awful! I quite liked the movie and was looking forward to seeing the story performed live. My disappointment was threefold. The characters were never developed. They exhibited no real emotion or motivation. Not for poor acting, but important parts of the screen play were cut out, apparently to make room for more songs. I didn't care about any of them. The story line was chopped up to such an extent that it made no sense. Bits and fragments of various subplots from the movie were jumbled together. I was able to follow the story only because I already knew it. This writer is not acquainted with the craft of story telling. The acoustics at the Pantages Theater were simply horrid. What would have been the saving grace of the production, some spirited traditional songs performed by proficient performers, sounded as though I was listening through a tin can telephone. In the second half, amplified music sounded better. Don't waste your time.

Anonymous from Los Angeles, California

VERY DISAPPOINTING.

I was really hoping that the stage version of 'Once" would capture the intimacy of the movie but was sadly disappointed. Very slow moving, too much dialogue and not enough of the music. the female lead had great singing voice but phony accent. And too much time was spent on the ensemble characters than the two leads. Would not recommend, rent the movie instead.

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