Low male voice repertoire in contemporary musical theatre: a studio and performance guide of selected songs 1996-2020 by

Musical 
Music Lyrics 
Range 
Tessitura 
Once (2012) 
Glen Hasard 
Glen Hasard 
F#
2
– B
3
Verse/Chorus – M 
Tag – L 
Musical Theatre Style 
Song Type/Feel 
Tempo 
Rock/Pop 
Acoustic Folk Rock 
174bpm 
Vocalism 
Breathy 
Speech-like 
Character 
Belt 
Legit 
Operatic 
Sources: Data adapted from Steve Kazee, “Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy,” track 7 on Once: A New 
Musical, Sony Music Entertainment, 2012, Amazon Music streaming audio, 
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B007EMBEUM?trackAsin=B007EMBNTO&ref=dm_sh_3d97-05f7-dmcp-ce72-
2827f&musicTerritory=US&marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER; Glen Hasard, “Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer 
Sucker Guy,” in Once: Sheet Music Selections (Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Music, 2012): 23-25. 
Plot 
Once is the story of a budding relationship between a Dublin busker (Guy) and a Czech 
immigrant (Girl) as they are brought together by their love of music. Based off the 2007 romantic drama 
film of the same name, the two collaborators run into roadblocks in successfully funding their music and 
navigating their feelings for one another.
5
Character 
Guy is a struggling musician; at times brooding and charismatic. Actors would be expected to 
use an Irish accent and play guitar. Vocal range is quite wide; casting lists the character as a bari-tenor.
6
Context 
This piece is sung (and self-accompanied on guitar) as Guy describes how he arrived back at his 
father’s vacuum repair shop, suffering from a broken heart. It is the seventh number of Act 1 before Guy 
applies to receive a bank loan to be able to travel and perform in New York.
7
5
“Once Broadway @ Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre,” Playbill Inc., access Jan 17, 2020, 
http://www.playbill.com/production/once-bernard-b-jacobs-theatre-vault-0000013862. 
6
“’Once’ Casting Call,” SpeakEasy Stage Company. Backstage, accessed January 17, 2020, 
https://www.backstage.com/casting/once-233419. 

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37 
Musical Content 
This short composition is in a modified verse-chorus form, and essentially only utilizes the I, V, 
and IV chords for its entirety (apart from the A minor seventh chord in m. 2). Glen Hansard manages to 
create a quirky, mid-tempo song whose instrumental accompaniment is in stark contrast to the lyrical 
story content. The harmonic choices used in this piece are diatonic and the melodic choices elongate 
verbs and adjectives like “fell”, “love”, “heart”, “screwed” to help give the song’s audience textual clarity 
and lyrical emphasis regardless of time frame. The melody features G
3
and B
4 
prominently, while 
beginning almost every phrase with a scalar descent. This verse is noted to be performed freely, and a
steady moderate cut time feel begins in m. 18.
8
Additional summation, analysis, and character subtext 
can be found in Table 5.2. 
Table 5.2. Compositional Sections of “Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy”