once

Glenn Hansard and me in 2007

Like any Irish girl should, I loved the movie Once. Loosely based on a relationship between Hansard and a girl who slept with someone in his circle, or something like that, he and his bandmate wrote music and made a movie. It is a sweet movie. A bittersweet love story. With brilliant songs to go along with it.

And now it's on Broadway!

And I have a connection to it ... out of the blue, a friend called and invited me along while another acquaintance went to work interviewing Hansard and his band, the Frames, at a local music festival. I was so excited to follow along, though a bit nervous. I do admire so many musicians, but the thought of actually getting a chance to talk to one, makes me nervous. Very nervous. My friend interviewed the band before they performed, and you can see by the photo above, that I got the chance to meet the man! Take a look at the picture and one could say that we look like brother and sister. He definitely brought the Irish out in me.

That could be the end of the story. But it isn't. The scene backstage was pretty intense and everyone seemed to know one another. I wasn't a part of the scene, instead I was the voyeur. And boy did I watch something that in and of itself could become a movie. Apparently, a local rock chick (groupie) had lived in Dublin for a while, and she claimed that she huskered with Hansard, and that the movie was in fact about their relationship. Wow! Of course the woman that I was with had a feeling that maybe she was making it up. Not shy, she continue her interview of Hansard without the camera rolling and asked, 'so, so and so says that the movie is about her, any truth in that?' He blushed. And slowly and very assuredly said, no. Ouch. But it didn't end there either. I was standing around, really, who was I going to talk to? I didn't know anyone there except the two I was with and they were busy making the rounds. And what did I witness, Hansard walked right up to the woman in question and asked, 'why are you telling people that this movie is about us when it isn't?!' He wasn't angry. He was frustrated. And honestly, I felt sort of sorry for the woman. She had herself a good story with some truth to it, and who would've thought that the movie would become so popular that the spotlight would shine on Hansard and follow him around?

I did get a chance to talk to him after the picture was taken. My friend pushed me toward him while he was standing alone. I think that being in the music business, or any business like it, must be kind of lonely. Who do you talk to that is interested in just a chat, and not a ... oh, I don't know. An audience. Well, I made an arse of myself, and that must have been entertaining for him. Really, what does one talk to the celebrity of the moment about? I talked about Ireland, of course. And then, I don't know why (oh yes, I know why), I started talking in leprechaun. That's my, I've had a few beers and I'm kind silly accent. Oh, I was perfectly harmless. And he didn't mind the chat with the crazy lady.

So I was surprised that the play Once won a boat load of Tony's last night. I didn't even know that it was being made into a Broadway production. The performance on the show was very sweet. And I think that I liked the show's lead better. He sang less harshly ... Hansard sort of has a roar when he sings. At one point after an award for the show had been given, the camera panned over and showed Hansard. I was very satisfied. I had met him. I have a picture of the two of us on my wall. And he is my two degrees of separation from Bono. Hah! and that is the sweetest point of this whole musing. Imagine, I am three degrees away from every important person in the world ... because I met Hansard, and he knows Bono. Those two were huskering in Dublin on Christmas Eve just two years ago.

Now that should be a Broadway musical! Oh, not the Christmas carols. No. The fact that I'm three, not six, degrees away from everyone in the world because I met someone who knows Bono. What a lark that could be! oh, imagine the leprechaun that I would turn on for him.