Finally got round to watching Once yesterday. Last day of performances
It was pretty good. The soundtrack is fantastic, and Ronan Keating wasn't anywhere near as annoying as I was expecting (and he's actually got a decent voice. It's
raw). The ensemble end up stealing the show for a lot of it, though.
The young guy who doesn't do well in his interview and the heavy metal drummer got some genuine irl laughs. Liked how the set was a working bar, too, and you could nip up and buy drinks there before the show/during the interval.
It's another one of those musicals where the second act is
weak, though. It's got an amazing first half, but in the second,
nothing happens. They spend the whole first act falling in love, and
then both still end up going their separate ways at the end and nothing is ever resolved.As for the theatre; it's awful. Had seats in row H of the Dress Circle, which usually wouldn't be that bad, but it's barely raked and the seats aren't offset, so if you have someone sitting in front of you, regardless of how tall they are, their head's going to block out 50% of the stage.
Pretty innovative on the refreshments front, mind you - They've introduced this Ordertorium scheme that they've had on Broadway for a few months, so there's little menus on the seats you can peruse, then if you want to order anything you can just flag the waiter over and he takes your order/money at your seat and they bring it straight out (or at the interval if you want ice creams). Great for dodging the queues at the ice-cream sellers or the bar
Was reading up on it a little more on the train home, and I've discovered that before Ronan Keating took over, Guy was played by bloody Rory:
Had no idea he could sing.
And the original Girl (inventive naming, right?) on Broadway was Cristin Milioti