merrion street

Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan today warmly congratulated the musical 'Once' on winning eight prestigious Tony awards at a ceremony in New York last night.

Minister Deenihan said:

It is encouraging to see work created by Cork playwright Enda Walsh, achieving this level of success at such a prestigious ceremony. Picking up awards for Best Musical, Best Actor for star Steve Kazee, and Best Direction for John Tiffany as well as an award for best book of a musical for the same show, while Bob Crowley was recognised for scenic design and Martin Lowe for best orchestration among others. Congratulations to all involved with this project and of course to Glen Hansard, who continues to inspire through his music, song-writing and his innate talent as a performer on screen and on the boards. This was a great night for the Irish at the Tonys, yet again, emphasizing that our cultural ambassadors have few peers internationally.

I understand that the show is booked for a year long run off Times Square and I’m hopeful that during this run it will encourage its audience to consider visiting Ireland and Dublin in particular to retrace the steps of the street musician from Dublin who falls for a Czech flower seller in this bittersweet love story which captured the hearts of movie audiences and is now doing the same with theatre goers.