Permission to gush?

I loved the movie, remember? I've been looking forward to seeing the musical ever since it was announced, all the while crossing my fingers that it would live up to the spirit of the original. 

Well, hallelujah, it did. I cried happy tears from the first notes. Looking down the row, it had the same effect on my girls. At the end I narrowly avoided getting to ugly, loud cry mode (You know the kind? where your breaths come in hiccups and you're no longer in control of your throat noises? That kind.). There's something about this story, that music, that just resonates with my heart: the healing power and joy of music, the gentle powerful difference one person can make. It's a heartfelt, joyous story that never crosses over the border to sappy. 

I can't resist sharing some clips:

Are you rolling your eyes? At least definitely watch Steve Kazee's moving Tony acceptance speech. Please?

Are you rather interested? Take a sneak peek at scenes from the show:

For fellow (slightly obsessed) fans, a longer look at the making of Once and the recording of the music:

. . .

More here:

- Steve Kazee's interview with the New York Times

- Cristin Milioti's interview with the Wall Street Journal

- More about how Cristin Milioti learned the piano in 10 days to nail the audition

. . .

If you go:

- get there early! The stage set is set as a Dublin bar and it also serves as the actual, pre-show bar so you can go up on stage and order a drink or bottle of water until show time. Even better, the musicians and actors come out and perform as a little warm-up gig. You can stand up there right next to them on the stage.

- know that there is some language. In my book Irish swearing is in a different category (and you can pretty much convince yourself they're saying forks, for instance) but it's definitely PG13 in the language department so you should know that going in.

- oh, enjoy, enjoy. Hopefully the loud-yawning guy doesn't sit behind you like when we went. Also, he blew on Maddy's neck to get her to move to the side. Annoying!

- go meet the cast at the stage door afterwards (just turn right when you exit the theatre, it's right there). The cast was so warm and engaging, every one of them. Cristin Milioti was as lovely as she seemed on stage. Steve Kazee gave us his best Australian accent and chatted with us like he had all the time in the world. I like to think we made a deep personal connection but really, they were equally lovely with each person on the line. We were starstruck.