WATCH: The stars of hit musical Once perform award-winning song Falling Slowly ahead of its Edinburgh run

A BRAND new recording of the Academy Award-winning song Falling Slowly, from the  multi award-winning Broadway and West End musical Once has been released.
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Performed by Daniel Healy, who will star as Guy and Emma Lucia who will play Girl when the hit show tours to The Playhouse in May next year, the song, written by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and features in both the 2007 film and the stage musical.

Healy and Lucia return to the roles after receiving critical and audience acclaim in the production’s premiere last year.

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Healy, a singer-songwriter, musician and actor, who has co-written songs for multi-platinum artist Ronan Keating including the single Breathe, says of the song, "At its core it’s very simple, but goes on this beautiful soaring journey.

Once stars Daniel Healy and Emma LuciaOnce stars Daniel Healy and Emma Lucia
Once stars Daniel Healy and Emma Lucia

"It starts small then builds into this beautiful crescendo. To a certain extent it is open, ambiguous and up for interpretation. It could mean anything to anyone.

"That’s what I love about it and I think that’s what most people, even if they don’t realise it, love about it.”

Lucia adds, “This song is so special because it’s the first time Guy and Girl realise that they understand each other; they have a special connection when they make music together.

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"Music has always and will always connect people in a way words sometimes can’t. It’s definitely one of my favourite moments in the whole show, it gives me goose bumps every time.”

Once tells the uplifting yet yearning story of two lost souls - a Dublin street busker and a Czech musician - who unexpectedly fall in love.

Following their relationship across five short days, big changes happen to both of them in little ways.

Based on the cult 2007 Irish indie feature, originally shot on a micro-budget of just $160,000, Once premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2011 before transferring to Broadway in 2012. There it won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

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Productions have since opened all over the world, including the West End production in 2013 which received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music

Once tours to The Playhouse from 26 to 30 May 2020

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