You may have seen it once on Broadway, and once more when its National Tour played locally, and once more still when South Coast Repertory debuted it regionally, but forget all those Onces. If you haven’t seen the Tony-winning Best Musical of 2012 restaged in the round by the brilliantly inventive Kari Hayter for 3-D Theatricals, you haven’t yet experienced the full musical-theater wonder that is Once.

Like the 2007 Irish film festival favorite on which it is based, Enda Walsh’s Tony-winning book introduces live theater audiences to a Dublin street musician (Guy) still pining for his split-for-NYC ex and a not-quite-single Czech mom (Girl) with a husband still alive and kicking in Prague, whose meet-cute over a broken vacuum cleaner quickly leads to the dual adventures of recording a CD of his songs and falling hopelessly in love.

Also imported from the John Carney-written-and-directed film is the catchiest Irish Indie Pop score ever heard on a Broadway stage, songs by film’s stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová that take us from the aching-hearted “Leave” and “The Hill” to the glorious full-cast harmonies of “Gold” and “When Your Mind’s Made Up.”

Unlike its cinematic source, however, Once The Musical’s supremely multi-talented cast of twelve not only portray one colorful featured character after another but accompany each other on accordion, banjo, cello, concertina, drums, electric bass, guitar,, mandolin, melodica, percussion, piano, ukulele, and violin, hardly a new concept for a Broadway show (director John Doyle did the same with this actors-musician revivals of Sweeney Todd and Company) but one that works even better in Once given that Guy & Girl’s story is as much about making music as it is about making love.

It makes perfectly delightful sense for Guy’s repair-shop-owner father and the studio engineer they approach about making Guy’s demo and the bank manager they go to for a loan and the pub regulars they enlist as musicians to be part of Once’s twelve-piece orchestra led by Guy on guitar and Girl on piano.

All this inspired ingenuity helped turn Once into a 1,167-performance Broadway smash made even more ingeniously inspired at the Cerritos Center For The Performing Arts by director Hayter’s gift for stripping a production-design-heavy musical down to basics and soaring sky-high in the process.

Whereas previous Onces have situated the musical in a meticulously detailed Dublin pub, Hayter and scenic designer extraordinaire Stephen Gifford do it all with tables, chairs, crates, and a piano and let our imagination fill in the blanks, aided enormously by Jean-Yves Tessier’s striking, scene-setting lighting design, and all of this made possible by the Cerritos Center’s unique ability to reconfigure itself into an intimate arena stage that gives the entire orchestra section an up-close-and-personal experience.

Add to that a turntable stage used so revolutionarily, it merits its own applause, whether enhancing Guy and Girl’s giddy spinning fall into love or making sure that everyone in the audience gets to see Girl’s keyboard finesse or turning the Act One closer “Gold” into a vertiginous full-cast show-stopper, and you’ve got a Once unlike any you’ve seen before.

Singer-songwriter Tom Frank’s musical theater debut as Guy and musical theater vet Aurora Florence’s revelation of some pretty nifty ivories-tickling as Girl add to their characters’ opposites-attract appeal, Frank’s aching, resonant rasp of a rock star matching Florence’s power pipes every step of the way as Guy’s bad boy persona proves irresistible to the no-nonsense Girl (“I’m always serious. I’m Czech.”) and to the 3-D audience as well.

Multi-tasking supporting players dazzle throughout, from Scott Waara’s grizzled, deeply caring Da to musical director David Lamoureux’s wild-and-crazy whirlwind of a Svec (the band’s nutty Czech drummer with a penchant for tearing off his pants) to associate music director Andy Taylor’s sweetly endearing Bank Manager (who can’t hold a note and won’t hold a breast) to Andrew Huber’s irresistibly dorky Andrej (harboring dreams of glory under his fast-food uniform) to Chuck McLane’s larger-than-life Billy (the social-skills-deprived music shop owner so vital to Guy and Girl’s recording dreams).

Equally terrific are dance captain Katherine Washington’s earthy, life-loving Reza, Cynthia Marty’s salt of the earth Baruska, Leota Rhodes’ still-pining Ex-Girlfriend, Erich Schroeder’s amiable Emcee, and Cameron Tagge’s inscrutable music studio manager Eamon, and did I mention that each and every one of the above act, sing, play at least one musical instrument while dancing up a storm to choreographer Linda Love Simmons’ mix of high-energy Irish foot stomps and gorgeously stylized backup moves?

Child actress Quinn Copeland completes the mix as Girl’s adorable daughter Ivanka.

Sharing design kudos with Gifford and Tessier is Cricket S. Myers (acing some extraordinary sound design challenges), Dixon Reynolds’ original Broadway costumes (the sole production design element not unique to L.A.), Gretchen Morales and Melanie Cavaness’s properties and Andrew Nagy’s projections.

Erin Cholakian is assistant director. Donna M. Parsons is production stage manager and Terry Hanrahan is assistant stage manager. Jim Mora is technical director. Casting is by Amber Snead. Caitlin Muelder is dialect coach.

Whether you’ve seen it once, twice, or more times than you could possibly count, you won’t want to miss 3-D Theatricals’ Once, sure to be remembered as one of the year’s most magical, memorable musical theater triumphs.

Cerritos Center For The Performing Arts, 12700 Center Ct Dr S, Cerritos.
www.3dtshows.org

–Steven Stanley
October 12, 2019
Photos: Caught in the Moment Photography

Tags: 3-D Theatricals, Enda Walsh, Glen Hansard, John Carney, Los Angeles Theater Review, Markéta Irglová