Book by Enda Walsh. Music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. Based on the motion picture written and directed by John Carney. Directed by John Tiffany. Presented by Barbara Broccoli, John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo, Brian Carmody, Michael G. Wilson, Orin Wolf Productions, and Robert Cole, in association with New York Theatre Workshop. At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Tuesday, November 17. Continues until November 22

The main thing that Once has going for it is that it’s not Wicked. Being minimalist as opposed to overinflated only goes so far, however.

In the musical Once, which is based on the movie of the same name, Guy’s lover has left Dublin for New York, so he’s got a broken heart, and because his career as a singer-songwriter is going nowhere, he’s working with his dad, repairing vacuums. Enter Girl, also a musician, who hears Guy singing in a bar and insists that he simply must pursue his musical career.

Always on the verge of tears, pouring out his heart in ballad after ballad, Guy is more than a bit wet. And I can’t decide if the dynamic in which a morbidly sensitive man is saved by the relentless optimism and faith of a perky, pushy woman is more indulgent of or insulting to both parties.

Despite this questionable narrative core, the style of the storytelling in Once in charming. This piece is set in a Dublin bar, and, before the shows starts and at intermission, audience members can mingle with the cast on the set, and even order drinks. Everybody in the small company plays an instrument, which allows them to become an on-stage orchestra. And to create locations for new scenes, the actors rearrange the furniture with dancelike flourish. All round, director John Tiffany’s staging is exquisite. And the movement by Steven Hoggett heightens everyday gestures and physical impulses just enough so that we can see their force and beauty. In a lovely moment in the second act, a group of characters, who all have their backs to us, slip their arms around one another’s waists in unison.

Still, far too much of Once is dull—and that includes most of Act 1. Virtually nothing happens in Enda Walsh’s Tony Award–winning book. Guy simply quivers with longing for Girl, who is too driven to allow that longing—or the plot—to go anywhere. And with the exception of the Academy Award–winning “Falling Slowly”, which is touching—“I don’t know you/but I want you/all the more for that”—the songs are an undistinguished mélange of folky pop.

Act 2 is much better. The stakes ramp up when Girl finally admits her love—to us, if not to Guy. And the second act is far more musically dynamic than the first. It includes the passionate escalation of Girl’s “When Your Mind’s Made Up” and the haunting simplicity of an a cappella version of the love song “Gold”.

This touring production is handsome and the multitalented cast, including Stuart Ward as Guy and Dani de Waal as Girl, is strong. Even if this show weren’t coming at us trailing eight Tonys, however, it would be fair to expect more of it.