Reviewed by Philip Brandes
Rubicon Theatre Company
Through October 6
RECOMMENDED
If ever a movie were ready-made for stage musical adaptation, it would be the 2007 indie hit, Once. The film’s award-winning, folk-infused soundtrack paved the way for a seamless Broadway incarnation as a bittersweet modern romance about wounded hearts mended by the healing power of music. While “achingly beautiful” may be a far-too overused trope nowadays, it’s an entirely apt description for the current pitch-perfect revival presented by Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre Company. For anyone who’s only seen the film, or even another stage production, Once is not enough.
Veteran Southland director Michael Michetti masterfully leverages a superb cast and the intimacy and immediacy of live theater to heighten the impact of this deceptively simple love story about a Guy and a Girl — loners so seemingly inconsequential that we never even learn their names. Facing impending middle-age with no career prospects beyond his meagre take as a busker, Guy, a gifted Irish guitar-strumming singer-songwriter (Shawn William Smith), is on the verge of abandoning music altogether. During his intended final street performance, Guy’s surrender plans are upended by a fateful encounter with Girl (Maddie Eaton), a fiercely assertive Czech immigrant who recognizes his talent and refuses to accept his defeatism.
Guy’s dead-end day job, per his whimsically countrified “Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy” ditty, provides a convenient opening: Girl, also a talented pianist and songwriter, has a busted Hoover in need of repair. Their shared love of music fills the narrative vacuum, and their ensuing relationship proves anything but generic despite the characters’ lack of formal names.
Smith’s endearing but socially inept Guy unveils his character’s soulful depths in his heartfelt ballad delivery and guitar playing (“Leave,” “Say it to Me Now,” “Sleeping”). Eaton’s Girl provides both complementary keyboard accompaniment and poignant solo flights (“If You Want Me,” “The Hill”), while mining comic gold with Girl’s quirky accented dialog.
As any once and future fan of Once would expect, Smith and Eaton’s talents unite flawlessly for the show’s Oscar-winning masterpiece, “Falling Slowly.” The palpable chemistry between the two is apparent in their verbal as well as their musical duets, stemming from more than just well-rehearsed performance: both are themselves singer-songwriters (as were the show’s music and lyrics creative team of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who originated these roles in the movie).
In adapting the original story, Irish playwright Enda Walsh’s respectfully restrained book preserves all the movie’s plot points; his main innovations build on Girl’s knack for pointedly hilarious remarks, and flesh out the supporting characters with just enough depth and back stories to strengthen the ensemble without losing narrative focus. The most obvious embellishments are in the expanded roles of Billy, the music store proprietor (Adam Huel Potter) who allows Girl free use of his instruments, and the Bank Manager (Brian Maillard), a secretly aspiring singer who approves the loan for Guy and Girl’s demo recording session — both become part of the back-up band.
\Michetti’s staging makes transformative use of the Rubicon’s mid-size venue (recently renamed The Karyn Jackson Theatre), which proves an ideally suited space for the expansive 13-actor ensemble while retaining the show’s essential intimacy. Scenic designer Mathew Herman’s adaptable set includes an Irish pub configuration onto which the audience is invited for Irish-themed libations during intermission; it’s an inspired reversal of fourth wall penetration, inviting us into the characters’ world rather than intruding them into ours. Before each performance, early arrivals can enjoy an improvised musical jam session that organically transitions into Guy’s opening number.
Music remains the first and foremost element in the characters’ lives and in the production itself. The actors are all equally accomplished multi-instrumentalists (none of that meta John Doyle lets-make-Patti LuPone-play-the-tuba bullshit here). In climactic numbers where the entire cast serve as both orchestra and dance ensemble — in particular, the first act closer “Gold” and the recording session triumph “When Your Mind’s Made Up” — the production’s pinpoint precision is a triumph for both Julia Hoffmann’s Music Direction and Kitty McNamee’s original choreography.
For all its generous, unabashed romantic spirit, Once is not a fairy tale: real-life complications put limits on how far love can carry Guy and Girl’s relationship. Yet however partial their connection, each receives what they need most from the other — which might just be enough for any of us.
Rubicon Theatre Company at The Karyn Jackson Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street, Ventura; Wed.-Sat., 7 pm, Wed., Sat. and Sun., 2 pm; thru Oct. 6. www.rubicontheatre.org. Runtime: two hours and 20 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.
