Dani de Waal News

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 25th.

Despite the fact that I am a great lover of cinema, the film version of ONCE (2006) somehow eluded me; now, the musical stage adaptation, with music by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and a book by Enda Walsh, is affording Memphians an 'off season' 'pub crawl' at the historic Orpheum Theatre - and though I have never been particularly fond of Irish whimsy (Barry Fitzgerald's coy old priest in GOING MY WAY is probably the source of that), and though PBS repeats of performances of clarion-voiced Irish lasses sawing away at violins and Riverdancers send me reaching for the remote, I am happy to report that . . . I finally 'get it.' ONCE is a refreshingly 'laid back' vehicle for a musical; its often wistful, incisive, perceptive numbers are an intimate alternative to the often overblown showstoppers of larger musicals.

A Broadway show to end the notion that every tale is a fairytale, though the title of this article would allude otherwise, Once finds its power in all things realistic rather than in a storybook romance. It takes the age old understanding that when a man and woman find each other everything else will work out and flips it on its head. While Hollywood and its cohorts would love for the public to believe that every story has a clear cut path, Once provides insight into what audience members already know. After all, the great Victorian playwright Oscar Wilde Once penned, 'the truth is rarely pure and never simple.' Once merely reiterates the fact.

Sam Palladio (Gunnar Scott) and Chaley Rose (Zoey Dalton) from ABC's hit TV show NASHVILLE visited the Once tour at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center last night, September 16. Scroll down for photos of Palladio and Rose with tour cast members Stuart Ward (Guy) and Dani de Waal (Girl)!

Once: The Musical brings a taste of Ireland to Nashville this week as the national tour makes a stop at Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Once: The Musical, based on the 2006 indie film, is set in Dublin and centers on two characters known only as Guy and Girl. Their story is as much about the love and power of music as it is about the love between the two characters themselves. The movie's most famous song, 'Falling Slowly' won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Broadway production of Once: The Musical swept the Tony Awards in 2012, receiving 11 Tony nominations and winning 8 Tony Awards including the crown jewel, Best Musical.

For Baltimore theater goers, a show at the Hippodrome is a must-see experience. The ornate charm of this historical gem sets an anticipatory air of excitement for the audience. It's proven to be versatile in its staging of both new and old Broadway whether elaborate or intimate. The most recent production, ONCE, is a successful example of the Hippodrome's ability to stretch and contract its personality to fit the style of a small indie movie as well as any elaborate Disney extravaganza.

Subtle and, at times, molasses-slow in execution---yet ultimately powerful in impact---ONCE is a beautifully-staged, soul-searing musical that interchanges romantic entanglement for creative fulfillment---and how the line that separates these emotions are often blurred. The eight-time Tony award-winning musical---featuring a book by Enda Walsh and music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova---continues performances in Costa Mesa through August 31.

On Thursday, July 17th, the Tony Award winning musical ONCE celebrated its L.A. Premiere in true Hollywood Fashion with a beautiful after party at Bardot Hollywood. This event was sponsored by FOX Searchlight Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in celebration of Searchlight's 20th anniversary and the Blu-rayTM release of the 2007 Academy Award® winning film. Charles McNulty with the L.A. Times says "The staging of ONCE preserves the quality that helped set it apart - emotional eloquence in stillness." "Dani de Waal and Stuart Ward flourish when getting lost in the music." Check out a look at the opening night bash below!

On Thursday, July 17th, the Tony Award winning musical ONCE celebrated its L.A. Premiere in true Hollywood fashion with a beautiful after party at Bardot Hollywood. This event was sponsored by FOX Searchlight Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in celebration of Searchlight's 20th anniversary and the Blu-rayTM release of the 2007 Academy Award winning film. Scroll down for photos from the festivities!

Once/book by Enda Walsh/music & lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova/directed by John Tiffany/Pantages Theatre/through August 10

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 GRAMMY Award for Best Musical Theater Album, is celebrating its Hollywood Pantages Premiere with a limited four-week engagement tonight, July 15 through August 10, 2014. Opening Night is Thursday, July 17th at 8pm.

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 GRAMMY Award for Best Musical Theater Album, is celebrating its Hollywood Pantages Premiere with a limited four-week engagement; July 15 through August 10, 2014. Opening Night is Thursday, July 17th at 8pm.

This Summer, Orange County, CA---which includes Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Santa Ana, Irvine, and even cities just a hop over the county line like La Mirada and Long Beach---is so chock-full of hot stage goodies, that you may have to earmark a lot more time in the next three months to properly satisfy all your theatrical cravings. Here's our Top 5 Summer Must-See picks, plus a few other noteworthy shows to check out around the area, too!

We all know the annoying trend of turning every well-regarded or sellable movie into a Broadway Musical. Do we really need a stage version of the popular film especially when that film is pretty much a musical already such as with the indie sleeper hit "Once"? Well, I don't know if we need it but in this case I'm actually glad we have it as they have taken this lovely romance and just simply let it be told through it's gorgeous music and some very simple staging and the result is a great big sigh (and maybe even a few tears) at the end of a truly entertaining evening.

ONCE National Tour woos Tempe with sincerity and skill.

Once, the 2012 Tony Award winner for Best musical, is one of the most nontraditional musicals to come along in quite some time. Based on the Academy Award winning film of the same name, Once opened on Broadway in 2012 to strong reviews and the momentum continued to build to a Tony win and the launching of a national tour. Once played in Des Moines last week and, based upon the reception, will be welcome back anytime in the future.

ONCE, the Oscar-winning film ("Falling Slowly"), has a lot of qualities to it that don't immediately make you think it should transition well to the stage. It's a simple story that deals mostly with two main characters, and it doesn't have an "in your face" type of score, or mood about it. And yet, somehow writer Enda Walsh (book) is able to maintain that intimate intensity without sacrificing its charms. It helps that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova have crafted a subtle, but fine collection of tunes that really work well to assist in telling the story, even on a big stage. The current production gracing the Fox Theatre is wonderfully directed (John Tiffany), and makes for a perfect "date night" out. This Tony Award winner is deserved of its praise and delivers must-see entertainment.

Falling slowly into a relationship with ONCE and its quirky characters stirred memories in the hearts and minds of lost loves and fleeting past moments. Catching this show at Minneapolis' Orpheum should be done pretty quickly with the run ending April 6.