I am aware that when it comes to dating, there are
such things as a “date night” or a “date movie”, but a “date play” is quite a
rare thing, practically something that is unheard of.
That is, until I saw “Once”, the Tony-winning musical
that kicked off the Segal Centre’s 2018-2019 season, and runs until October 28.
This is a charming, heartfelt production that is a
wonderful testament to the power of music and the role it plays in the lives of
ordinary people. It takes place in Dublin, Ireland, and follows the building of
a strong relationship between an Irish musician (Greg Halpin) and a Czech
immigrant (Eva Foote), whose common bond is their love of music.
The Czech girl somehow manages to bring out the
musician’s hidden musical talent (he spends his spare time busking on the
streets of Dublin, when he is not working as a vacuum cleaner repairman at his
father’s appliance shop) to the point where she takes him to a studio and have
these songs recorded for posterity. However, throughout this growing relationship
built on music, things get complicated when they reveal they have their own set
of personal baggage; the girl has a young daughter and a husband who has left
them, yet she is hopeful he will return; and the guy hopes to move to New York
City to further his career, where he has a girlfriend waiting for him.
“Once” is a musical that is ideal for taking your
spouse or significant other to, as the ultimate “date play”. The plot is honest
without having to resort to a mawkish, schmaltzy ending that one would see in
old Hollywood romance movies of the 30s and 40s. And the two lead performances
are excellent, especially Eva Foote as the Czech girl, who is quite captivating
and delightful and brings a mix of humour, enthusiasm and boundless spirit to
the role; in fact, she practically wins you over the moment after she utters
her first line of dialogue.
And a word about the music. The 10-piece band does a
splendid job in the show, as it plays a rollicking repertoire of Irish and
Czech folk music that plays an integral part in the show’s plot, pace and as a
bridge between scenes.
For more information, or to purchase tickets to
“Once”, call 514-739-7944, or go to www.segalcentre.org.
* * *
And speaking of the Segal Centre, its Dora Wasserman
Yiddish Theatre began its 60th anniversary season with a production
that it has been presenting at the Segal Centre (and under its original name the
Saidye Bronfman Centre), as well as touring around the world, for 22 times
since 1972 … “A Bintel Brief”, which had a brief, week-long run from October 14
to 21.
The play is a selection of vignettes that are based on
a column of the same name that appeared in the New York-based Yiddish newspaper
The Forward. In it, readers aired their concerns, problems and dilemmas, and
hopefully could be supplied the answers they were seeking courtesy of the
paper’s editor.
“A Bintel Brief” is a fascinating snapshot of the
Jewish immigrant experience in America during the turn of the 20th
century, and portrays a number of scenarios both humorous and dramatic, from a
bigamist with two large families, a Yiddish/English vaudeville show, an evening
English class, a young immigrant girl being roped into a
marriage she doesn’t want, and the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in
March of 1911, which killed 146 young immigrant workers.
Add to that a topnotch veteran cast, authentic
costumes, and a verve to bring back the days of how our ancestors lived between
the old country and the new world, “A Bintel Brief” was a fitting, entertaining
way for the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre to starts its seventh decade.
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