When the Melbourne Theatre Company's (MTC) 2014 season was announced last year, Claire and I were excited beyond belief to hear that MTC will be bringing the new, Tony Award winning musical Once to Melbourne. In November, along with our good friend (and go-to Musical buddy), Miriam, we attended the Wednesday matinee of the show with the usual elderly matinee crowd, (AKA our people!). My breath was taken away by the beauty of the staging and set (and perhaps, also, because of Tom Parsons, the actor playing the leading man, 'Guy'). There my have been some major swooning coming from all three of us girls throughout the show.
The show is called 'Once: A New Musical', and rightly so. Yes, it has that title because it did open on Broadway in 2012. However, the experience of watching this show was something I have never experienced with a broadway show before, and that is something that makes this musical new and refreshing. Of course, as musical theatre fans, we love a good spectacle as much as the next show-tune belting fan. There is something about the intimacy of the show that for once in our lives, makes us feel like a part of the show.
I have been obsessed with the soundtrack (both motion picture, and Original Broadway Cast recording) for quite some time now. So much so that I must admit, I started crying during the first song. #classicgrace. The songs are filled with so much emotion! I have listened to this soundtrack on rainy days, before I fall asleep, on days where I have felt down, or even just as the perfect background music while on the public transport commute to Uni. Walking in to the theatre, I had no idea what to expect from the storyline - I only had the songs memorised.
Turns out that Once is set in Dublin, and is a story about a man about to give up his music and a Czech girl who convinces him to continue. Cue a heart-tugging and refreshing story orflove, loss, passion and music. Truly amazing. Our love is real. I could go on forever talking about each scene in detail and the journey of my emotions, the perfection of the cast (did I mention that they play all of their instruments live on stage?!), but I believe I should leave some mystery and leave you hanging until you go see the show for yourselves. Walking in without having much of an idea of what I was about to witness just added to my experience.
Tom Parsons and Madeleine Jones are flawless in the lead roles of Guy and Girl
-Grace
***(GRACEFUL AND CLAIRE DOES NOT TAKE ANY CREDIT FOR THE IMAGES USED IN THIS POST)***
No comments:
Post a Comment