The story of a Dublin busker who meets a young Czech fellow musician, ‘Once’ comes to Milton Keynes Theatre from Mon 17th to Sat 22nd Feb.
When a Dublin street busker is encouraged by a young Czech musician to give up the day job in his dad’s Hoover repair shop it turns out that it’s more than just her broken vacuum cleaner that is likely to get fixed. Based on the critically acclaimed 2007 Irish small budget movie, Once tells the story of two lost souls whose lives are changed over the course of five short days.
‘Girl’ meets ‘Guy’ just as he is on the verge of giving up his dream of becoming a successful singer-songwriter. Worn down by the misery of a broken heart and an infuriating excess of self-pity, the arrival of ‘Girl’, with her boundless optimism, common sense and motivation, is exactly the kick up the backside ‘Guy’ needs to recharge his batteries and restore his faith in, not only the power of music but also the power of love.
Once premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2011 before transferring to Broadway in 2012. There it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. Productions have since opened all over the world, including the West End production in 2013 which received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.
Once has a Book by award-winning Irish playwright and screenwriter Enda Walsh, and Music & Lyrics by Academy Award winning Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová who, for Falling Slowly, won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Daniel Healy and Emma Lucia return to the roles of ‘Guy’ and ‘Girl’ after receiving critical and audience acclaim in the production’s premiere last year at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch.
Daniel is a singer-songwriter, musician and actor, who has co-written songs for multi-platinum artist Ronan Keating including the single Breathe, which topped the BBC Radio 2 Playlist. Theatre credits include Backbeat and Once, both in the West End.
Emma Lucia made her professional debut as Marilyn and understudying Carole King in the UK Tour of Beautiful, before taking on the role of ‘Girl’ in Once.
Joining Daniel and Emma are Dan Bottomley as Billy, Matthew Burns as Eamon, Ellen Chivers as Reza, Rosalind Ford as Ex-Girlfriend, Lloyd Gorman as Svejc, David Heywood as Emcee, Samuel Martin as Bank Manager, Peter Peverley as Da, Susannah Van Den Berg as Baruska and James William-Pattison as Andrej. The cast also includes Emma Fraser, Seán Keany, Hanna Khogali and Conor McFarlane.
Once is directed by Peter Rowe with set and costume design by Libby Watson and musical supervision by Ben Goddard and comes to Milton Keynes Theatre from Mon 17th to Sat 22nd Feb.
Full details and ticket information can be found here.
