It has been republished in memory of Glen Hansard, who passed away this week (July 29th, 2026) at the age of 56. It’s 2011, and Glen Hansard is worried. His breakout film, Once, is about to open as an Off-Broadway musical at the New York Theatre Workshop in Manhattan’s East Village. Throughout the course of each traditional or modern Irish folk song, certain musicians would join in and sing — everyone was expected to participate. The musical, written by acclaimed Irish playwright Enda Walsh, gave Once, then a cult classic of sorts, a second life.