Where-To-Go Wednesday - Once

What: Once

Where: Bernard B. Jacobs Theater
            242 West 45th Street
            New York, New York

Who: 10 and up

Our view: Once is not your typical musical. It is not as light as shows like Mamma Mia and Hairspray, but it is not as heavy as shows like Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. The music does not completely come out of the plot but does enhance the plot. The songs are beautiful especially Falling Slowly although you won't necessarily come out of the theater humming them. Unlike in other shows, there is real just one basic plot in Once and not a lot of secondary plots. That is kind of nice because there are no distractions from the main story which is a  beautiful  love story. It is the story of a guy and a girl, they are not given any other names than that.  It is the age old story of boy meets girl, and they fall in love, however, there is so much more to it than that. The show is one not to miss because the story is good and all the roles in the show are well performed. The music is good too and every person in the cast (except the young actress playing the role of Ivanka) plays his or her own instrument. The preshow music jam is one of the highlights of the show. Even if not for the great acting and music, the show would be worth seeing for the great set which is an actual working bar, where you can go and buy drinks before the show and/or at intermission. It is not a full bar, however. There are only 3 different kinds of drinks available, one of which is water in case you do not want or are too young to drink an alcholic beverage. Just note that you do have to pay for the drinks and they are overpriced. It is worth it though just for the chance to go on stage and be part of the preshow jam. In any case, Once as the title suggests is something to be experienced at least once. I would not recommend it for young children under 10 because there is some cursing  in the show and there is the whole bar aspect. However, they would probably be bored with the show anyway. I would recommend it for everyone else especially anyone who loves the theater and/or loves a beautiful love story. For more information and/or to order tickets go to http://www.oncemusical.com/.

And that's our view. Tune in for tomorrow's Talking Topics post for more about Once.

Disclosure: We were given tickets to Once for free. The opinions expressed here are our own based on our experience seeing the show.