"Once," winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 GRAMMY Award for Best Musical Theater Album, is celebrating its Hollywood Pantages premiere with a limited four-week engagement now through August 10. This soulful romantic musical, based on the 2007 Academy Award-winning film "Once," is about an Irish musician (Stuart Ward) who has decided to give up his dream of writing music until a Czech immigrant girl (Dani de Waal) enters his life, drawn to him by their shared love of music. As the whimsical story begins, she hears him singing one of the love songs he has written, but it is obvious that he is in despair, planning to quit singing and writing music forever. Soon she casts a spell that enables him to want to continue with his music.
The show is beautifully staged with musical supervision and orchestrations by Martin Lowe and movement staged by Steven Hoggett under the direction of John Tiffany. The ensemble cast is excellent. Everyone not only acts, they also dance and play musical instruments as they bring this romantic tale to vibrant life on stage.
There are many songs, some romantic, some funny but perhaps the most memorable is the Academy Award Winning song "Falling Slowly."
At the Hollywood Pantages, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. For tickets call: 1-800-982-2787 or online at HollywoodPantages.com or Ticketmaster.com. Tickets start at $25.
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What's New on DVD–"Heaven Is For Real," based on the incredible true story from the New York Times No. 1 Best Seller written by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent, earned $90 million at the Box Office and is now available on DVD starring Greg Kinnear and Thomas Haden Church. Kinnear plays Todd Burpo, a small-town businessman whose young son, Colton (Connor Corum) miraculously recovers from a near-death experience with vivid memories of his visit to Heaven. He tells his parents about things he learned on his amazing journey into the afterlife, talking about things he couldn't possibly know since they happened before the little boy was born.
The Blu-ray and DVD bonus features include the featurette "Colton Goes to Heaven" and deleted scenes. The Blue-ray includes two additional features: "The Making of Heaven Is For Real" and "Creating Heaven." The film has a running time of 99 minutes and is rated PG for some thematic material and some medical situations.
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On Aug. 12 the animated "Eleanor's Secret" comes to DVD and is a fanciful tale about the joys of reading. From Academy Award nominated director Dominque Monfery ("Destino," Disney's "Tarzan," " Hercules" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"). The animated tale is a rollicking adventure in which a boy's newfound ability to read sets his imagination free and serves as a way for him to save the day for his new-found fairytale friends. When Nat discovers a magical library in a dusty old attic he makes friends with Alice in Wonderland and characters from "The Jungle Book," "Pinocchio," “Puss in Boots," "Jack and the Beanstock" and more, but he soon learns that his friends are in danger and the only way he can save them is for him to learn to read an ancient spell that will keep them alive for generations of children to come. The DVD comes with bonus extras and is not rated.
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On July 22 the Smithsonian Channel brings "Shark Collection" to DVD which allows you to dive in for a look under the skin and into the mind of the ocean's perfect predator. It is man vs. shark, but who is the real predator? The 3 episodes from the TV series include: "Shark Girl," which follows activist Madison Stewart's mission to save the creatures she loves by changing people's minds about sharks. In "Great White Code Red," two scientists dissect a shark to reveal what drives this fearsome animal and "Death Beach" investigates an abnormal string of shark attacks off a South African coast. Not rated. Running time is approximately 138 minutes.
Sharks are universally feared, but also widely misunderstood and suddenly they are becoming endangered. This DVD will hopefully change public opinion about sharks before it's too late.
