ONCE Tour Cast - Page 2

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 6:23pm

Did the equity tour close? Or are they running simultaneously?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 7:11pm

^The first tour closed.

[HSky]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 8:32pm

The casting breakdowns I saw posted around the time the Australian production opened do mention those roles can be played by either gender. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 9:08pm

I wonder if this means the tour/licensed script has dropped the "penis man" joke for the Bank Manager?

[starcatchers]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 9:23pm

The equity tour ended on December 27th. 

[HSky]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 9:38pm

The reprise of "Gold" would also present a different look with a female Bank Manager. (At least with how I've come to associate the scene.)  I wasn't planning on seeing the non-Equity version but this is making me curious.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/6/16 at 10:54pm

Curious to see how scaled back it is if at all. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 2:52am

It will be the exact same physical production, just a different cast and crew.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/7/16 at 11:50am

I'll be seeing the tour when it stops in New Brunswick, NJ(State Theater). I'll post details about any changes that were made with the two roles(bank manager & emcee) now being female. That is, of course, if neither role has their male u/s on.

[HSky]

Posted: 1/16/16 at 2:44am

I ended up seeing the 2016 tour tonight. With the female Bank Manager, there are only a few script tweaks. 

• "small loans woman" in the scene after "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy"
•  ma'am before the proud to be Irish speech
• "Abandoned in Bandon" had the gender references flipped
• The joke is slightly revised. The Bank Manager's line becomes "I am a huge fan of breasts," then the next two lines about are omitted and Billy follows up with "That's tricky to find on a man." The Bank Manager agrees, causing the penny to drop for Billy to say "Understood."
• Eamon's line "We made great music today, boys" changed to "guys" (in the non-gender specific way)

It is the same set and general direction, movement, etc. as the previous productions.

There were only two things that really caught my eye as being different from the multiple times I've seen it before. Andrej froze stage left after his "Bastards!" rant for several (somewhat awkward) beats and I was starting to wonder if they cut the lighted costume and changed blocking as a result, but he then proceeded to cross the stage and lie down. Also, Da stood up for most of the end of the conversation with Girl after she paid him, as well as after giving the check to Guy at the end and even played a little keep away before handing it over. 

Sam Cieri's Guy was a little too low key for my liking. I did enjoy Mackenzie Lesser-Roy as Girl, John Hays as Billy, Bristol Pomeroy as Da, and Jenn Chandler's Bank Manager.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/16/16 at 6:50am

thanks for the review!! hopefully they'll continue to improve as the tour just started this week.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/16/16 at 12:36pm

I like how one guy in the cast lists a currently running new Broadway show in his credits.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/16/16 at 2:54pm

How is that even possible? Plus this cast is non-equity. Was it a reading or workshop?

[thedrybandit]

Posted: 1/16/16 at 3:08pm

CATSNYrevival said: "How is that even possible? Plus this cast is non-equity. Was it a reading or workshop?"

He lists himself as being in Misery (Broadway). Did they do a reading for it?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/16/16 at 3:45pm

Wouldn't you still have to be apart of equity trading at do a reading for a Broadway show. I had this same question about two people in the bullets over Broadway tour casts and the problem was that they had the same names with people who were on Broadway.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 1/17/16 at 2:23am

Well, as I saw Misery and he's not a Bruce Willis type or the sheriff not sure what he's referring to. But, maybe a reading? It's non-union so you can sort of say what you'd like. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 1:19pm

saw the tour this past Saturday evening at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. This non-equity tour of ONCE is just as strong as every time I saw it on Broadway(3x). The two gender changes with the bank manager & emcee are indifferent. The Jenn Chandler(bank manager)'s Abandoned in Bandon is softer than Andy Taylor's. The role of the emcee is so small, it's really doesn't matter whether it's played by a male or female. The only difference with having two more female cast members is that both Chandler & Lin(emcee) sing in IF YOU WANT ME. Lesser-Roy's(Girl) was fantastic. Her version of THE HILL gave me chills again. Probably the best since Milioti. Sam Cieri's(Guy) vocals did bother me a little as he seemed to struggle with some of the higher notes. GOLD once again gave me chills, such a powerful way to end Act 1.

 

Overall, this tour is in amazing shape & I highly suggest seeing it if it rolls into a town near you. The tour only runs through May 29 before officially closing. The one major downside to seeing the tour at that barn of the State Theater(1,800+ seats) is that it does get lost a little if you're sitting in the balcony as I was. The show is meant for to be played in smaller theaters(~1,000 seats).

[Jakeevan942]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 9:17pm

I saw the show twice this weekend, and, by and large, it was the best bus and truck tour I have ever seen. The tour lost one truck, which was primarily Equity Trunks and other Union stuff that they don't need with a non-equity cast. It is the same physical production as the equity tour, which closed in Boston, and was trucked up to Utica to be loaded in to re-tech with the new cast/crew a week later. The single holdover is the Merch Manager from Araca, who said this isn't too far off from the original touring set-up. Mostly split weeks, and full week stops, with a decent number of flights and rental cars for sit-downs. Notedly different than most Networks non-equity companies. She also said that the gender swaps for Bank Manager and Emcee were simply based on the non-equity talent they were able to find with the unique skillsets needed for the tracks in this show.

It was a rare sight when a full tour was able to fit inside the State Theater, complete with show deck, which usually has cut versions of every tour, often leaving a full truck of gear in the loading dock. The show has no fly cues to get tangled in the State's old, hemp system. The simple lighting rig was actually focused for opening night. The audio mix was actually decent, I could make out every word, aided by the toned-down accents. (For comparison, I saw the London company with full-on accents and couldn't understand half the script.) And the cast was incredible, and actually age-appropirate, roughly, for the characters, unlike the full cast of 22-29 year old principles who came through playing 40-60 year olds in Bullets this past fall. Mackenzie Lesser-Roy (Girl) was simply engaging from first entrance through the house to the final note. Sam Cieri (Guy) was a bit shaky on the high notes, but by and large fantastic, though I couldn't help seeing Drew from Rock of Ages, which he played on NCL, playing Guy. The rest of the company was great, and the audience was utterly impressed, compared to other tours which have needed to take stops for technical difficulties lately. [Most of this paragraph was me ranting about Networks, Troika, and Phoenix booking their tours in venues where they simply don't fit, but all of this comments on the quality of this tour.]

It is worth saying that this show sold better than any Broadway tour recently, save for Beauty and the Beast and the upcoming Annie, which are promoted as family shows, not Broadway. Most tours at this venue are readily available on Groupon; There were limited discounts available for Once, and most of the run was all but sold-out.

If you can see this before it closes, do it. It is, save for the equity status of the actors, the full tour, and a fantastic production of an innovative piece of theater.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 11:50pm

yes, in terms of how well the show sold at the State Theater, I was also very surprised. I bought my tickets two months in advance and seats were very limited. I know one of the ushers and he said all four shows were sold-out. I'm surprised they didn't(or weren't) able to add another show on Sunday. When American Idiot stopped at the State Theater a few years ago, they added another show due to demand. I wonder if there's any chance the tour extends past it's May 29 closing date.

[TheSongbook]

Posted: 2/10/16 at 11:16am

I saw this production last night in Indianapolis. I tend to avoid non-Equity tours but I loved the NYC production of ONCE, so I invited a friend to join me. We both really enjoyed it. It was quite solid, perhaps the best non-Equity tour I've seen. The actors playing Guy and Girl were certainly not Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, but they were good enough that it was not distracting. He was a strong actor and she sang quite well. The ensemble was excellent throughout. I would recommend this one if it's coming through your area.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/11/16 at 11:27am

so apparently the tour will continue past it's May 29 date. In a recent interview with the Sam Cieri, the tour's current Guy, he states that the tour will resume in September. I wonder when the tour starts out again in September if it'll basically be just a bus & truck tour.

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/main-character-s-story-once-mirror-s-life-of-actor-who-plays-him

 

"The first leg of the tour is until May 29 and then it rounds back again in September."

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/12/16 at 10:18pm

a montage of the current tour..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyTT3Oi2kms