After hitting it big on Broadway and earning eight Tony Awards, Chicago audiences now have the opportunity to see Once at the Oriental Theatre this October.
Although this new musical uses some of the same songs, it is completely reimagined from the Academy Award-winning movie. This story follows an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together in a pub who then create beautiful music together.
Zander Meisner—who hails from Deerfield, Ill.—understudies several parts in the show. Windy City Times spoke to him the day after the debut performance of Once in Chicago.
Windy City Times: Hi, Zander. Did you study theater in Deerfield?
Zander Meisner: Yeah, I went to Deerfield High School and did music there. I was in two different bands. I started theater in my freshman year. I joined some choirs in my sophomore year. So I was in theater, singing and in band playing a couple of instruments. In college I studied theater and have been doing it for a while.
WCT: For this show, you have to do more than one thing and be well rounded.
Zander Meisner: Absolutely.
WCT: How was the audition process?
Zander Meisner: It was long! I went to an open call well over a year ago. It was when the show first opened on Broadway and I got good vibes. They started calling me in for more auditions even though the Broadway company was pretty set. They hadn't even announced that there was a tour yet. When I hear through the rumor mill that there would be a tour I got in front of the casting director as much as I could. After many auditions I got it.
WCT: Who do you understudy?
Zander Meisner: Andrej, Svec, Eamon, and Emcee
WCT: Do you know when you will be onstage?
Zander Meisner: As of right now there is no schedule because we just opened. It is all based on someone being ill or calling off.
WCT: Are you waiting in the wings?
Zander Meisner: Literally we study. You have to learn each role, blocking and, in this particular show, all of the musical instruments. I cover four roles. All four of them play guitar at some point. All four of them separately play mandolin, piano, banjo, ukulele, electric bass, and drum set with a little bit of harmonica.
WCT: You are a one-man band!
Zander Meisner: I am, like, Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins.
WCT: Can you tell readers about the differences in the musical adaptation from the film version?
Zander Meisner: In every way it is different with the exception of the story and the songs. It is an ensemble piece onstage where as the movie is really just those two people. The ensemble is both the band and the supporting cast.
There are a lot of movements in the show that are not even present in the movie. Steven Hoggett has added choreography along with John Tiffany, setting it in an Irish pub. There is no Irish pub in the movie. There is no musical jam session that flows like Once the musical does. The musical takes the simplicity of the movie and make it theatrical. It is a simple intimate piece but also stage-worthy.
WCT: Audience members can order drinks onstage during intermission, I noticed.
Zander Meisner: There is also a pre-show where the ensemble plays several songs both Irish and Czech that flow into the show itself. It is an actual Irish pub. They serve drinks and the audience is allowed onstage a half hour before the start of the show. They are just a foot away from the actors playing songs. They start it up again at intermission except the actors of offstage during that.
WCT: What an original idea.
Zander Meisner: Very much so.
WCT: The show doesn't fall into the traps of many movie adaptations into musicals.
Zander Meisner: It doesn't fall into cliches of movie musicals or of musicals in general, which I think makes it special. It is a love story that never happened. It is really unique and I am very happy to be a part of it.
WCT: Are there people on tour that were on the Broadway show?
Zander Meisner: There are two people that were replacements in the company that are on tour. They liked them enough and cast them in the roles here, Claire Wellin and Erica Swindell. Stuart Ward who plays Guy was from the cast in London as an understudy.
WCT: That just shows to hang in there as an understudy.
Zander Meisner: We are all part of the company and it is a long tour. Everyone is a crucial part of this experience.
WCT: Are you in a band outside of Once?
Zander Meisner: When I am in Queens I do play in a band ironically at an Irish pub. Some friends come and join me and we call it Zander & Friends, not the most creative of names. We are kind of a band that changes personnel frequently. I have been doing it for about four years.
WCT: This is not your first national tour, with you being in Annie and Cats before. Where are you off to next?
Zander Meisner: Philadelphia. We are here for three weeks so I am just happy to be in my favorite city in the country.
WCT: You get to visit your friends and family while you are here.
Zander Meisner: Exactly.
Run over to the Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., before Oct. 27, when Once once again will hit the road. Call 800-775-2000 or visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com .
