Tonight, I saw the musical “Once” on Broadway. I did not know much about the backstory before I saw it, although I know that it recently won the coveted Tony award for Best Musical. This is a show for those who appreciate lustily-performed Irish music, tending toward the modern folk side, and who like love stories. The musical is essentially about two musicians, an Irish man, and a Czech woman, who find that their shared musical companionability is opening onto deeper realms of relationship. This is tricky because they are also both kind of already in relationships (he with girlfriend, she with husband and daughter). The musical tracks their unfolding negotiation, within themselves and with each other, of these complexities. But the musical is also about a very talented ensemble of supporting actors and musicians, who join the two stars for many numbers, and frequently star in their own right, beginning before the show officially starts, when the ensemble takes the stage fifteen minutes before curtain and starts playing music on stage, surrounded by any audience members who want to come up on stage and have a drink and enjoy the band up close. This is so much a show about the music that at the curtain call, there were no separate entrances for the actors. Instead, all gathered together to take a shared bow.

I most enjoyed hearing the songs, which are unfailingly listenable, lovingly crafted, and soulfully sung.

Here is the cast performing at the recent Tony awards:

Here is a video of some tunes from the show:

As much as I was affected by the melodies, I found the lyrics of the songs to be variations on the theme of love’s longings and

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