Watch a jam session and feel the music.
Stuart Ward stars as Guy, an Irishman whose passion for music ignites intense romantic feelings for a fellow musician in the national tour of
“Once,” a hit Broadway show that won eight Tony Awards in 2012, including Best Musical.
The tour will play at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Feb. 4 through 9.
A Liverpool, England native, Ward has been performing since he was 12-years-old, after seeing his brother play guitar.
“I just wanted to do whatever he did, so I got [a guitar] as well,” said Ward.
He studied performing arts in college and attended the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, which was co-founded by Liverpool native and music legend Paul McCartney.
“Once,” based on the 2006 film, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, follows a street musician and an immigrant’s complicated romance. Toward the start of the show, Ward’s character walks down the streets of Dublin, singing love songs when he’s about to give up on music.
“Just as [Guy] puts his guitar down, this girl approaches him and tells him how important his music is and instills this newfound confidence,” said Ward.
Ward had to put his British accent aside and learn to speak like an Irishman for the role, which was difficult at the start.
“I get to a point where I can say all the lines in the show — but only the lines in the show,” he said.
Now he’s more comfortable speaking in an Irish accent.
His favorite scene is when the cast is all together and he sings “When You’re Mind’s Made Up.” The characters book a studio, after taking out a loan, and are under a lot of pressure to get the song right.
“I kind of feel like the character I play has dreamt about how he would do this moment for a very long time, and he just goes in and just kind of nails it,” said Ward. “That’s the moment where he changes and becomes a singer, a rock star.”
Before being cast in “Once,” Ward was pursuing movie and television roles and was in an episode of “Downton Abbey.” He was also a guitarist in Australia for Cliff Richard, a popular British artist, and will soon release an album called “Pictures.”
Ward, who is seeing America for the first time on the tour, said musical aficionados won’t be disappointed.
“I think people will be able to relate to the story due to the fact that it’s a love story, an unconventional love story,” he said. “It’s not a Disney love story. It tells the tale of how relationships are complex and hard and they don’t always work out.”
For more information on “Once”’s visit to Miami and to purchase tickets, visit arshtcenter.org or call the box office at 305-949-6722.
