Washington's National Theatre Announces Cast for ONCE

Once, winner of eight 2012 Tony® Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play the National Theatre for a limited engagement from November 25 -27, 2016.

The cast will feature Sam Cieri as "Guy" and Mackenzie Lesser-Roy as "Girl," along with Lily Caputo, Jenn Chandler, Barry DeBois, Nyssa Duchow, Liam Fennecken, Lynn Flickinger, Isaac Haas, John Hays,Julia Hoffmann, Angel Lin, Bristol Pomeroy, Adam Huel Potter, Lauren Thomas, Dan Tracy, Grant Alan Watkins, and Luke Wygodny. Additional casting to be announced soon.

Once, which was also named Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics' Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards, ran for more than 1,100 performances on Broadway, with acclaimed international productions from London and Melbourne to Japan and South Korea.

Once is the celebrated musical based on the Academy Award-winning film. It tells the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together. Brought to the stage by an award-winning team of visionary artists and featuring an ensemble cast of gifted actor/musicians, Once is a musical celebration of life and love: thrilling in its originality, daring in its honesty...and unforgettable in every way. The Washington Post praised its transition from film to stage: "The core of the picture translates beautifully."

Once features the Academy Award-winning music and lyrics of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová; a book by award-winning Irish playwright & screenwriter Enda Walsh (Penelope, Hunger, The New Electric Ballroom); direction by the acclaimEd Scottish director of Black Watch, John Tiffany; movement by Steven Hoggett (Black Watch, American Idiot); and music supervision and orchestrations by Martin Lowe (Mamma Mia!). The set and costume design are by five time Tony® Award winner Bob Crowley (The Coast of Utopia, Mary Poppins); lighting design is by Tony® winner Natasha Katz (Aida, The Coast of Utopia); and sound design is by Clive Goodwin.

The 2007 Oscar-winning independent Irish film Once was made for $150,000. Shot in 17 days, it went on to gross $20 million worldwide, becoming a critically acclaimed international smash. Written and directed by John Carney, itstarred Glen Hansard, from the popular Irish Rock band The Frames, and Markéta Irglová. Hansard and Irglová won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly" and the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Music. The soundtrack was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

For more information, you can visit www.thenationaldc.com or www.oncemusical.com.

Tickets, starting at $48 plus applicable service charges, will be available beginning September 16 online atwww.thenationaldc.com, or by calling (800) 514-3849. Orders for groups of 10 or more may be placed by calling (855) 486-2516. For more information, call (202) 628-6161 or visit www.thenationaldc.com.