Stuart Ward and Dani de Waal © Joan Marcus
What do you get when you turn an Academy Award-winning film about dream chasing, discovering love, and the power of music to connect strangers into a Broadway musical? In the case of Once, apparently the answer is eight 2012 Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical and a 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
“Once is about an Irish busker who’s playing on the streets of Dublin,” describes Stuart Ward, who plays the lead in the show. “He’s at his wits end. His mother is dying, his girlfriend has just left him to go to New York and he’s just about to give it all up. And just as he sings his last song, this girl appears—this Czech-Republican, immigrant girl appears on the street and installs this new confidence in him and gets him to carry on with his music. They end up in a relationship that builds around music and they fall in love.”
Ward granted SLM a quick phone interview in between performances, explaining the allure of this hugely successful musical and his journey that led him to this role.
Had you seen the 2006 movie version of Once before you were in the show?
I saw the movie back in 2008, I think. I was going to rehearse my own music with a girl who was playing piano and singing backup vocals, and I got to her house, and she was in a mood because she’d just had a fight with her boyfriend. She didn’t want to rehearse, and suggested watching a film instead. That film was Once. We were kind of watching it and this guy and this girl playing all of this music, and we couldn’t help but notice some similarities between what we were doing and what they were doing. It was very inspiring. Little did I know then that six years down the line, I’d be performing that show on the stage.
Do you consider yourself more of a singer, an actor, or are you really both?
I’m kind of both. I get asked this question a lot, really. I always answer with both. My job before was a professional guitar player with Sir Cliff Richard, who is kind of a big deal back home, but not really here. I was touring Australia with him as his guitarist, and I’ve just released my first album as well, so I don’t like to take on shoes, I just like to do both.
Well that certainly represents the musical side, but you do take acting jobs from time to time. You were on an episode of Downton Abbey last year, right?
I was, yeah. The Christmas Special—the one before this last one—I was in. That was a great experience and I really enjoyed it. I’m actually a big fan of the show so I was quite star struck. I got there and was surrounded by all of these characters that I knew as a fan and it was very strange.
I bet it’s great to be able to say that you were on the show.
It’s brilliant. I can’t believe how big it is in America. It’s much bigger than it is back home, but great.
Shows like that tend to gather a huge following. I mean their fans are really dedicated.
Yeah, I can tell. I got a lot of messages on Twitter from America, which I found crazy, and I was only in three or four scenes.
Does that role win out as your favorite so far?
No, not really. Once is by far the best show I’ve been involved in. By far the biggest role I’ve had as well.
How long have you been doing this show?
Just clear of six months I’ve been doing it in America. I did it in England—in London for a while as well, but then I came over to United States to carry on here. I’m having a great time; I’ve seen some great cities.
How did you first get involved in Once in London? Were you doing the same role?
I was, but I was the cover, so I only went on now and then. When they were auditioning for the show, I was in another show, so I ended up auditioning for it farther down the line. At that point, the cover was only available, so I took the cover. The day after I went on for the first time, I got a call to see if I would like to lead the cast in the U.S. and I agreed to it, because I thought it sounded great and it has been great for me.
Is it true that the actors play all of the music live?
Yeah, that’s right. We don’t have a band or an orchestra or anything like that. All the actors play the instruments on stage. Some people play as many as five instruments in the show. They’re a really talented bunch. Before the show as well, we have a pre-show as the audience enters the auditorium. They’re encouraged to come on stage and listen to some music and you can get a pint from the bar on stage as well. Come on stage and have a listen to the Irish music and start getting hammered.
That sounds like a fantastic way to start the evening.
[Laughing.] Oh, yeah, it really is.
Do you ever get nervous about trying to sing and act and play an instrument all at once?
No—not any more. In the beginning it was quite nerve-wracking. But it’s all second nature now. We had quite a good rehearsal process and a fantastic creative team, as well. They really helped us out with it, and we’ve all got it now and we can just enjoy it.
Do most of the actors take on an accent for this show?
Well, I’m originally from England, but I play a guy who is from Dublin [he assumes an Irish accent] so I have to put on a Dublin accent for that. The whole thing is set in Dublin, so half of the cast puts on Dublin accents. There’s also a Czech contingency as well. The girl is from the Czech Republic, and she lives in a house with four other Czech characters, so there’s this Irish-Czech divide, if you like, but that’s apparent in the music as well. The music in the show is all very Irish, or very Czech-folk, but they’re both fantastic styles to work with.
What would you say is the overall tone of this production?
It’s very up and down. There’s a lot of comedy in it, and then as soon as you’re laughing, you find yourself crying from a really serious moment. They ask a lot of big questions about relationships. There’re many things that people can relate to because it’s not this fairytale, Disney-type story; it’s very real. It’s very gritty and raw. I think people prefer to see that kind of thing rather than some fairytale in front of them.
What’s the best part about this musical?
The best part is that, as a group, we’re such a tight unit. We all sing and act and play, so we’re kind of like a band of traveling musicians, traveling around the country to do a show, and there is a gypsy, traveling, Irish feel to it and everyone in the show is just brilliant. It’s become quite a tight family, so that’s my favorite aspect of it, the people involved. But the show itself is just a wonderful show, and it’s completely stripped back from what you’re used to seeing on Broadway. There are no people flying around or big set changes. It’s just down to the basics and telling the story and I think that’s why people love it so much. It’s quite refreshing.
Once runs at the Fox Theatre through April 20. Tickets can be purchased by calling 314-534-1111, or online at fabulousfox.com.
