So, our musical theater mavens kind of gushed over Theater Latte Da's staging of the 2012 Tony-Award winning romantic (based on a film of the same name) about a Dublin busker and the young Czech immigrant who hears his music and believes in him.
“It’s a
simple story,” writes Mary Aalgaard of #playoffthepage: “Guy meets Girl on the
streets of Dublin and they make beautiful music together”. Mary liked the way the #TheaterLatteDa production
“welcomes [the audience] “into the story” with
“the cast members play[ing] Irish
music as you are finding your seats.” And what a cast it is! As Guy, “Ben Bakken is delightful” while “Britta
Ollmann is everything that the Girl needs to be – a strong, determined, serious
Czech woman with a gorgeous voice, excellent piano skills, and a compassionate
heart.” https://playoffthepage.com/2018/09/review-of-once-at-theater-latte-da/
This was Jill’s “fourth time“
writing about Once. But the intrepid #cherryandspoon blogger was impatient
to see a production created by "genius director Peter Rothstein" at her favorite musical theater company. She reports: “Latte Da
has managed to put their own unique spin on it and cast 13 multi-talented
locale performers to create something truly special that will make your heart
ache in the best possible way.” www.cherryandspoon.com/2018/09/once-by-theater-latte-da-at-ritz-theater.html
Seeing Once once was not enough for Becki
Iverson either. The #Compendium
blogger likens revisiting Once to
a kind of self-care since “few experiences can instantly center you in the
quiet liminal space between the chaos.... It's a beautifully written show that exists solely in the gray areas,
the spaces in between.”
Theater
Latte Da’s production of Once is
directed by Peter Rothstein and runs through October 21st at the
Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. For tix and
info, go to http://www.latteda.org/once/
Ben Bakken and Britta Ollmann in Theater Latte Da's Once. Photo by Dan Norman.
