Award-winning musical ‘Once’ returned to Canada on 10 February 2015 to start a 111-day run at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre. Having enjoyed a particularly successful stint in the city during the show’s North American Tour in 2013, Once’s producers decided to re-visit for an extended stay. Sound designer, Clive Goodwin, has created a new audio concept for the production that is, once again, formed around a Funktion-One sound system.

Set in modern day Dublin, Once is the story of a guy who gives up on his love of music and the girl who inspires him to dream again. The show is being performed by an all-Canadian cast of actor-musicians. A 63-day run was announced last year but demand for tickets, even before it opened, has seen that extend by almost seven-weeks.

Commenting on the production’s continuing success, Goodwin says: “I think Once connects with people in a way that we can all identify with. It’s about the healing power of music. It’s about despair and hope – emotions that we have all felt and know, perhaps all too well. It’s about not giving up and pursuing what you love.”

The sound system comprises 10 Funktion-One Resolution 3 SH skeletal speakers, nine F55 speakers, four F121 bass enclosures and four RM15 wide-dispersion monitor speakers.

Goodwin explains: “The Funktion-One system allows me to keep more of the architecture out of the equation by giving me more closely defined projection patterns, which, along with the fast transient response, helps boost the intelligibility. But more importantly, it assists in keeping the sound as natural as possible, which is important to the realism and perceived simplicity of this show.”

Once had already won a Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album, an Academy Award for Best Song and eight Tony Awards before it made its way across the Atlantic to London’s West End in 2013. Included in that haul of eight Tony Awards, was Best Sound Design of a Musical, which was awarded to Goodwin. He was also nominated for Best Sound Design at the Olivier Awards in 2014, narrowly missing out, while the show did pick up an Olivier for Outstanding Achievement in Music.

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