Review | ‘Once’ at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre

An Excellently Produced Melodic Journey of the Heart

L-R: LINDA BARD, MADDIE EATON, JULIA HOFFMANN, MAX BARTOS, SHAWN WILLIAM SMITH, BRIAN MAILLARD, ANDREW HUBER, MATT FOYER, LEOTA RHODES, SAM SAINT OURS, ADAM HUEL POTTER, and CYNTHIA MARTY, the cast of the musical ONCE, at the Rubicon Theatre | Photo: Lore Photography

The first resonant notes of “Leave,” the song that launches the Rubicon Theatre Company’s production of Enda Walsh’s musical, Once, set the tone for a reverberating melodic journey. A story told using the original songs of a heartbroken Guy (Shawn William Smith) on the verge of giving up music to turn working as a Dublin vacuum repairman, Once begins with an SOS answered by a Girl (Maddie Eaton), a musician herself, who pushes to “unstop” Guy’s heart. With a dreamy backdrop of folk music with an Irish flair, Once is about music, desire, friendship, and the generosity of love.

The final show of the Rubicon’s 25^th anniversary season, this production of Once (directed by Michael Michetti) is an elegant delight. The stage functions aesthetically as an Irish pub on upstage platforms, leaving the center playing space to be easily represented as a multitude of other Dublin locations. That ever-present “pub” backdrop, though, allows audiences the layered, authentic feeling of a different kind of theater, an intimate production of storytelling troubadours, singing, playing, and acting within the bar in the Irish tradition.

Once is a challenging show to produce because each character plays in the onstage orchestra — thus the actors must each be at least competent musicians. The Rubicon production features an incredible group of performers who not only tell the story through staged action and dramatic recitation of text, but who also maintain the emotion of the scene consistent through the music.

Once’s run at the Rubicon has been extended, so you can catch this production in Ventura through October 6. Arrive before showtime for an Irish cocktail in the lobby and to see the Once orchestra come together onstage to jam through several fun, classic Irish folk numbers before the curtain. Bittersweet, but with a hopeful eye on the future, Once is a lovely piece of theater well produced by the Rubicon.

See rubicontheatre.org for tickets and details.