BWW Previews: ONCE, LOCAL ACTOR/MUSICIAN-DRIVEN MUSICAL, HAS TAMPA BAY DEBUT WITH Eight O'Clock Theatre

On August 6-15, Eight O'Clock Theatre offers the Tampa Bay premiere of Once, an Academy, Grammy, Tony, and Olivier award-winning musical based on the motion picture of the same name.

"The show is about people sharing their emotions and themselves through creating music together," said director and musical director Jason Tucker. "We get to feel that as we're all musicians playing instruments on stage while we're telling the story of people falling in love as we create music together."

Once tells the tale of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their mutual love of music. An unexpected friendship blossoms and collaboration turns into a complex love story over just a week's time.

Once features Andrew Roehm, Elizabeth Anderson, Jacob Rosado, Grant Sparr, David Russell, Laura Stack, Brian Yarbrough, Ashlie Timberlake, Drew Eberhard, Lisa Prieto, John Timberlake, Mercer Tucker, and KJ Kosobucki.

"What makes this show unique is there is no pit orchestra, no musicians supporting the musical from off-stage. Everybody in this show plays instruments - many playing multiple instruments. Many are playing instruments that they've never played before. It's really remarkable, an incredible thing these people are doing," said Jason. "This is music being played by local actor-musicians. Some have to re-find their skills and refine them with this production and it's exciting to see."

"The show gives nothing really to hide behind and it details out what everybody has experienced at one point or another," said Andrew, who plays Guy. "It's raw, emotional, and intimate. It does it in a very authentic way. It's not fluffed up in the typical way that Broadway shows tend to be."

Once understands that not all love stories have a happy ending, some are simply meant to help us grow, connect, and move on.

"The theme of the show is we pass each other, we join together emotionally, we get something and give something to each other, and then off we go. It's about a connection that we had once," said Jason.

Elizabeth, who plays Girl, added, "The show haunts you for a while. It stays with you. It's so moving. It's warm, it's longing, it's loving, but it's also about real life. I think anyone can enjoy it. It's not hard to feel an attachment to this music."

Once runs August 6-15 at Central Park Performing Arts Center, 105 Central Park Dr.,
Largo, FL 33771. To learn more visit https://www.eightoclocktheatre.com/once.html and to purchase tickets, visit https://larg-internet.choicecrm.net/templates/LARG/#/events.

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