Review: ONCE IN A WHILE, Union Theatre
Once in a While has all the ingredients of a classic romantic musical. Unfortunately, having the ingredients and knowing what to do with them aren't quite the same thing.
Presented at the Union Theatre as a semi-staged concert performance, it wouldn't be fair to judge it on scenery, costumes or spectacle. What we do get is enough to establish the world clearly; this is 1930s Britain. This is glamour, romance, misunderstandings, and the sort of musical theatre storytelling that feels entirely unconcerned with realism. If you're looking for a nostalgia trip back to the golden age of musical theatre, Once in a While certainly ticks the right boxes.
The problem is that everything moves so quickly that the audience barely gets a chance to know anyone before they're falling in love, falling out, keeping secrets, and making life-changing decisions.
Bernard and Nancy's romance is a good example. In a traditional 1930s-style musical, audiences are often willing to accept love at first sight; that's part of the charm. The difficulty here is that we don't really know either character well enough for the relationship to mean very much – we're introduced to them and are almost immediately expected to invest in their future together. As a result, Bernard comes across as rather needy and frustrated, while Nancy often seems confused and evasive, particularly when it comes to the secret that drives much of the plot.
That secret, incidentally, is one of the strongest elements of the evening; it arrives as a genuinely surprising revelation and provides a strong ending to the first act. We did find ourselves wondering why none of Nancy's friends had mentioned it before, but it certainly gives the story a direction we weren't expecting.
The difficulty is that there are so many other storylines competing for attention. Potential affairs, disapproving relatives, supporting characters who arrive, disappear and occasionally reappear (but mostly don’t), and various relationships that never quite seem to go anywhere, all make the plot feel more complicated than it needs to be. By the end, there are still a few loose ends hanging in the air, and some characters seem to drift out of the story altogether, so it feels as though the musical is more interested in introducing new ideas than developing the ones it already has.
Musically, the show knows exactly what it wants to be; the score is written very much in the style of classic British musicals, and if someone told us these songs had been written decades ago and rediscovered in a forgotten drawer somewhere, we'd probably believe them. There's nothing unpleasant about that. In fact, several songs are very enjoyable, particularly ‘In the Twinkling of an Eye’, which stayed stubbornly lodged in our head long after the performance had finished.
At the same time, the show's biggest strength may also be its biggest challenge because while the music successfully recreates the sound of an earlier era, it occasionally leaves the musical feeling dated despite being entirely new. Audiences clearly love revivals of older shows but when it comes to new musicals, there's often an expectation that they'll bring something fresh to the table. We found ourselves wondering whether a more distinctive musical voice might have helped compensate for some of the thinner characterisation and story elsewhere. Once in a While just isn’t different enough to be all that memorable. If someone told us this had been written seventy years ago and only recently rediscovered, we'd have believed them, and whether that's a compliment or a criticism probably depends on what you're looking for.
The performances themselves are strong throughout. The cast tackle the material with enthusiasm, and the vocals are consistently impressive. Greg Castiglioni who plays Bernard, in particular, is blessed with an exceptional singing voice that helps carry much of the evening, and the commitment from everyone on stage is never in doubt.
There are moments when we found ourselves slightly confused about who some of the characters were and how they related to one another, particularly with the multi-rolling. More than once we had to quickly work out whether a character was someone new or someone we'd already met in another guise. That's perhaps unavoidable in a concert presentation, but it did occasionally pull focus away from the story. Unfortunately, the confusion isn't limited to the casting – several plot strands are introduced and then left hanging, which only adds to the sense that the show is trying to juggle too much at once.
However, what we liked most about Once in a While is the ambition behind it. Creating a brand-new musical in the style of a classic British romantic comedy is a bold idea, and there are flashes throughout of something genuinely charming – we just wanted more time with the characters and fewer competing plot threads. Had the show slowed down occasionally and trusted us to get to know Bernard and Nancy before asking us to care about them, the emotional moments towards the end might have had much more impact.
As it stands, Once in a While is an affectionate tribute to a style of musical theatre that isn't seen very often anymore, and there’s the outline of a beautiful musical here; it just never quite trusts itself to become one.
** Two stars
Reviewed by: Lisamarie Lamb
