Once: Musical review

Once Review - Broadway musical

Review: Once musical.

Article type: Review and critical overview.

First impression and atmosphere.

Walking into Once, you do not feel like entering a theatre.

You feel like slipping into a Dublin bar where someone already started playing.

The lights sit low, the bar glows gently, instruments rest within easy reach.

Audience members mill around onstage before curtain, drinks in hand, chatting softly.

By the time the band explodes into the opening jam, you already belong.

Story and emotional core.

The plot is famously small, almost stubbornly modest.

An Irish busker, identified only as Guy, meets a Czech immigrant, Girl.

They write songs, fix vacuums, walk through Dublin, and almost fall in love.

Nothing truly sensational happens, which is the secret engine of the show.

The stakes feel emotional, not spectacular, heartbreakingly close to everyday life.

In 2025, that quiet honesty feels even more radical and refreshing.

Music and lyrics.

The score by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová remains the main miracle.

These songs feel lived in, frayed, like favorite sweaters pulled from memory.

"Falling Slowly" still lands like a confession whispered into someone’s shoulder.

"When Your Mind’s Made Up" arrives like an argument disguised as an anthem.

The music never chases applause, it chases honesty and emotional release.

Even the Czech folk song moments crackle, never drifting into quaint background texture.

On good nights you feel the band listen to one another fiercely.

Staging, movement, and design.

Director John Tiffany and movement creator Steven Hoggett build theatre from tiny gestures.

Chairs spin in circles, then suddenly freeze, like memory crystallizing in real time.

Characters drift to the edges when scenes end, turning into the onstage orchestra.

This staging choice keeps the story under constant watch by its own witnesses.

Bob Crowley’s set, that single bar and surrounding chairs, never feels minimal.

It feels like a memory space, endlessly rearranged, but recognizably the same.

Performances, from Broadway to recent revivals.

The original Broadway pair, Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, set a very high bar.

Kazee’s Guy carried bruised masculinity and shy vulnerability in the same breath.

Milioti’s Girl felt sharp, stubborn, and secretly terrified of feeling too much.

Later performers rarely imitate them directly, thankfully.

In London, actors like Declan Bennett and Zrinka Cviteši? leaned into different textures.

He brought husky introspection, she wore wit like armor, then quietly lowered it.

More recent regional and international casts keep surprising the material.

Some productions foreground the romance more strongly, others emphasize creative collaboration instead.

Either way, the show usually thrives when actors feel like musicians first.

Critical reception and other reviewers.

From the beginning, critics circled around the same central truth.

They agreed that the script had sentiment, but the songs held the soul.

One major New York critic noted the music’s “rough edged, sweet and sad” ambivalence.

He argued the songs made the characters feel real, not quirky archetypes.

A prominent London reviewer called the West End staging “raw” and “almost unbearable” in intensity.

Another London critic, writing after multiple visits, admitted it became their favorite musical.

Regional reviews from the 2020s echo those early reactions with new emphasis.

Writers in smaller cities talk about communal healing, about music as shared survival.

Even mixed reviews tend to respect the score and the actor musician concept.

How Once feels in 2025.

Today, Once sits in an interesting place within musical theatre.

It is no longer the new, whispery Broadway rebel challenging spectacle heavy shows.

Instead, it feels like a quiet classic, a touchstone for “intimate musical” trends.

Post pandemic audiences bring different wounds into the theatre, and the show adjusts.

The story’s focus on connection through music hits more directly, almost painfully now.

In recent revivals, lines about loneliness and risk feel sharper, closer to home.

The folk rock sound also ages gracefully, never stuck to a specific pop moment.

Direction, pacing, and emotional payoff.

The pacing can feel slow if you expect conventional Broadway fireworks.

Scenes linger on silences, awkward pauses, and shy glances over piano keys.

Yet that restraint pays off during key musical releases.

The rehearsal room sequence for "When Your Mind’s Made Up" still jolts the audience.

Frustration becomes rhythm, grief becomes volume, and the band erupts together.

The ending remains beautifully unresolved, refusing tidy happily ever after closure.

Some viewers leave frustrated, others leave grateful for that honest uncertainty.

Who will love Once, and who might not.

If you crave bombast, tap breaks, and spectacle, Once may feel slight.

There are no soaring key changes, no glitter showers, no eleven o’clock belting.

However, if you love singer songwriter intimacy, this piece can undo you.

It rewards patience, stillness, and a willingness to lean into quiet songs.

Fans of the original film usually recognize its fragile, unforced mood onstage.

Listeners who cherish storytelling albums will likely replay the cast recording repeatedly.

My verdict on Once musical.

For me, Once still feels necessary in 2025.

It reminds the industry that musical theatre can whisper and still be huge.

The show trusts the audience completely, which always feels risky and thrilling.

Its imperfections remain visible, especially in some supporting character writing.

Yet those rough edges match the music’s grain, like scratches on a favorite vinyl.

When a strong company plays it, the result is devastating, tender, and strangely hopeful.

You leave humming, yes, but also noticing strangers’ faces a little more kindly.

Questions and Answers.

Is Once a traditional Broadway musical?

No, Once feels closer to a live concept album with dialogue between songs.

Why did Once win so many Tony Awards?

Voters responded to its emotional score, inventive staging, and vulnerable central performances.

Does the musical follow the Once film closely?

Yes, but the stage version deepens relationships and uses the ensemble as a visible band.

Is Once still worth seeing in 2025?

Absolutely, especially in smaller venues where its intimacy and live musicianship really bloom.

Who will enjoy Once the most?

Fans of folk music, quiet love stories, and actor musicians performing live onstage.