1-16-2026 6:22am

Once | Chance Theater | Jan 23 - Feb 22 (PHOTO GALLERY & VIDEO TEASER!)

Eric Bergstrom Editor

Chance Theater is raising the bar for 2026 with one of our most ambitious season openers yet:

the Tony Award–winning musical Once (Book by Enda Walsh, Music & Lyrics by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová).

The cast of “Once” at Chance Theater

This intimate, folk-inspired story begins with a chance encounter between an Irish street musician and a Czech pianist, and blossoms into a moving tale of love, connection, and second chances.

Jennifer Richardson, Leota Rhodes, and Emma Laird

What makes this production especially ambitious is that it marks the largest first-slot show in Chance Theater history, combining a scale and intimacy we’ve never attempted for a season opener.

Jennifer Richardson, Will Huse, Mike Bradecich, Austin Ledger, and Joseph Dailey

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Emma Laird and Morgan Hollingsworth

While actor-musicians have energized our stage before, most recently in Spring Awakening, this is the first time a production of this size opens our season with their live instruments and voices in full harmony.

Mike Bradecich, Morgan Hollingsworth, and Emma Laird

In doing so, we’re recommitting to uplifting and hiring extraordinary local talent, giving audiences a season kickoff that is as much about the transformative power of theater as it is about the community that makes it possible.

Jonah Meyer, Leota Rhodes, Austin Ledger, and Jennifer Richardson

Directed by Literary Manager James Michael McHale (OCTG Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Green Day’s American Idiot), with music direction by Resident Artist Lex Leigh (OCTG Outstanding Music Direction, Striking 12), Once runs January 23 – February 22, 2026 on the Cripe Stage at Bette Aitken theater arts Center.