Serie - Once upon a time... a musical... they dreamt it, they made it.

By Mulder, New York, 26 june 2017

My name is Melissa Mars... as an actress and singer-songwriter, I've always been inspired and driven by fairy tales. My stories always start with "once upon a time..."

Could I have dreamt better for my first screening and review for Mulderville?

When the chief-editor invited me on the "other side"... from being judged to being the "judge", I was wondering what kind of reviewer I would be. I know what it feels like to be reviewed. You do your work as an artist and share it, and somehow feel completely naked and exposed... and then, you read and you get affected... sometimes in a good way sometimes not... Why can a critic hurt? It should just be one opinion among others, right?… Well I could go on and on on that topic but I wanted to share the direction I chose for my reviews. My point and goal are to focus on what I loved and to share the positive and attractive aspects, because I respect and admire artists of every horizon, the work, the time, the investment they put into it... so... Once upon a time... my first review :)

I have only seen season 1 of “Once” so far and I am already a fan! The mix of timelines between the fairy tale dimension and the present time in the town of Storybrook, bringing together all the characters of fairy tales that we grew up to… What a concept! Perfectly orchestrated with a cast, direction and story telling as fantastic as the idea is.

Now I had to jump and skip 5 seasons to watch the pre-final episode of season 6: the musical episode. Another great idea! It feels so natural to see the fairy tales characters singing.

It all starts with a wish that turns out like a curse… the characters can’t talk anymore but sing. Very smart concept that Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner came up with when they pitched it to ABC, home of “Once”.

Zachary and Weiner, songwriters and screenwriters, were in high school together and used to carpool together, their rides gave birth to their first collaborations and never stopped since. They have crossed their songwriting talents from Broadway musicals (“First Date”) to film, TV (FOX, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon…) and online media (“Happy Morning” the theme song for an online Folgers coffee ad, one of the first internet viral marketing campaigns).

One would wonder how come it didn’t happen earlier. If there is one show that deserves to be turned into a musical it is definitely “Once“!! So we can all be grateful to Zachary and Weiner who dreamt of it, worked on it, and made it happen, after watching all the episodes, knowing the storyline perfectly, they wrote the pitch and demo songs and a few weeks later, they landed in the writing room with the show-runner and screenwriters, collaborating creatively all together to make some magical episode for our pleasure.

Then they had to write the songs and check all the actors who were able to sing… And every single actor performing a song in the episode performed it themselves! Beautifully! They recorded the songs and rehearsed the choreographies while shooting the previous episode. Then shot the musical episode in the short 2 weeks given for production per episode!

Of course I enjoyed the villain number by Regina the Evil Queen (Lana Parilla), I say of course for those who know me and my passion for villain roles haha, the register of her voice in that rock song was perfectly fitting the character and the music. I must say everyone was incredibly talented. I was particularly moved by Emma’s (Jennifer Morrison) fragile and delicate voice. I wish Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) sang too!!

Overall what I enjoyed the most is that it was not just a regular musical episode where they all start to sing as if they were talking… but the characters touched by the curse, can’t talk anymore and acknowledge they are singing.

Hopefully the music box will open again in future episodes of season 7 that will hit the reset button with significant changes in the cast… In the meanwhile, you can get the soundtrack and special bonus songs on iTunes and a making off the musical in the Season 6 DVD. And our favorite musical creative duet, Zachary and Weiner are working on their upcoming musicals: “17 Again” and “Intermission” with Jerry Zucker.

To be followed…

Melissa Mars

Synopsis : Once upon a time – the song in your heart
In the special musical episode of ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME, entitled "The Song in Your Heart," Emma's (Jennifer Morrison) wedding to Hook will prompt some flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest at a time when Snow and Charming made a special wish to keep their young daughter protected. Of course, that wish led to the entire kingdom breaking out into song, giving the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) one more thing to be furious over. The episode features eight songs written by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner including "Powerful Magic."

Once upon a time
Created by Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis
Cast Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan), Ginnifer Goodwin (Mary Margaret Blanchard ), Lana Parrilla (Regina Mills),, Robert Carlyle (M. Gold / Tracassin), Josh Dallas (David Nolan ), Emilie de Ravin (Belle), Jared Gilmore (Henry Mills), Colin O'Donoghue (Killian Jones), Rebecca Mader (Zelena)