“Once” at Pittsburgh CLO

The Pittsburgh Tatler: I’ve been puzzling all day over how it came to be that Once won the Tony award for Best Musical in 2012. To be sure, the show features a lot of really excellent music; but music alone does not a great musical make. Or maybe it does? After seeing Rock of Ages and Once two weeks back to back I’m starting to wonder whether I actually understand the genre: both of these shows seem to use plot merely as an excuse to string a bunch of songs together, and while I enjoyed the music of Once far more than that of Rock of Ages, it too left me wondering whether what I was really watching was a concert pretending to be a musical.