Facing the Music: The Work of John Carney from Screen to Stage

By Katie Rodriguez

Film may be the medium of choice for Irish screenwriter, director, and former rock bassist John Carney, but music is undoubtedly the soul of his work. Since his early-aughts breakout on the independent circuit, Carney has carved out a cinematic niche painting stripped-down, strikingly human portraits of everyday life through song. Troubadours, songwriters, punk bands, and pop stars share their joys and their strife across genres ranging from acoustic twee to ‘80s New Wave in his major feature films, of which three have now made the jump from the silver screen to the stage.

An adaptation of Carney’s indie sensation Once (2006), which follows an Irish busker and a Czech immigrant as the pair spend a week in Dublin writing music and falling in love, premiered at New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) in November 2011. Though rooted in the charming quaintness of Carney’s original film, Irish playwright Enda Walsh adapted and expanded the story for the stage. Set to the backdrop of a fully functional Dublin pub, a boisterous ensemble was introduced to flesh out the world around the central duo, each actor also serving as a member of the onstage band. The original music by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová—the film’s onscreen lovers—comprised much of the musical’s score, including their Academy Award-winning ballad, “Falling Slowly.”

The NYTW production made a near-immediate transfer to Broadway that spring, opening March 2012 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The adaptation proved to be a runaway hit, winning eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and earning accolades from audiences new to the film and hardcore fans alike. Major productions cropped up in the wake of its Broadway success. Returning to the film’s Irish roots, a Dublin production was mounted in 2013 that subsequently transferred to the West End, running through 2015. Closer to home, San Diego theatre fans may remember the much-lauded local production at Lamb’s Players Theatre just last year!

Carney’s ‘80s-infused coming-of-age Sing Street (2016), which follows a Dublin teen who starts a band to win the affection of a local model, was next to be adapted for the stage. Again under the guidance of the team at New York Theatre Workshop, the piece debuted in fall 2019. The Off-Broadway production was helmed by Tony Award-winning director Rebecca Taichman and choreographer Sonya Tayeh, and featured the entire catalogue of original New Wave, synthpop music from the film.

Sing Street was set for a direct Broadway transfer to the Lyceum Theatre, with performances scheduled to begin on March 26, 2020. The company recorded singles of film-favorites “Up,” “Drive It Like You Stole It,” and “Riddle of the Model” that were dropped digitally in the weeks leading up to the scheduled opening night. The full Original Broadway Cast Recording was released for streaming on April 21, 2020, quickly garnering an avid online following and solidifying the legacy of the highly anticipated Broadway production. The original creative team regrouped in 2022 to stage a new version of the show at The Huntington Theatre in Boston and again in 2025 for a UK production at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.

The latest of Carney’s works to receive the stage musical treatment is his 2013 love-letter to the city of New York, Begin Again. Led by Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo, the film chronicles the unexpected connection that develops between Gretta and Dan—an up-and-coming singer/songwriter and a seasoned producer on the brink of complete burnout—after a chance encounter at an open mic night. The duo set out to record an album together, the buzzing NYC streets themselves serving as their impromptu sound studio.

The stage is where Gretta and Dan’s stories first entwine, in a dimly lit bar with nothing but a guitar and a song that needs to be sung. How fitting it is that we gather now at the edge of stage once more, as the theatre lights dim, to finally hear them play it.

Photo: The cast of Begin Again in rehearsals at The Old Globe, 2026. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.