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Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans are about to get a rare treat as one of TV’s most beloved musical episodes comes to the stage in New York. The Season 6 episode "Once More, With Feeling," which originally aired in 2001, is getting a staged reading (with musical performances, of course) at The Rat NYC in Brooklyn on November 19 and December 9.
"Once More, With Feeling" is the episode that helped solidify the series as one of TV’s great cult shows. The premise is classic Buffy: a demon arrives in Sunnydale and forces everyone to reveal their deepest truths by breaking into song and dance. The result is part Broadway pastiche, part monster-of-the-week adventure and part devastating character study. It became an instant fan favorite and remains an audacious episode of television, one that inspired a slew of other shows to go the "very special musical episode" route, to somewhat diminishing returns.
Produced by Something to Sing About Productions, the concert brings the episode’s songs to life, led by director LaRena Iocco and music director Billy Blair. The concert staging promises to tap into that legacy, bringing Buffy diehards together to revisit everything from Buffy’s anguished solo “Something to Sing About” to Spike’s swaggering “Rest in Peace,” plus fan favorites like “I’ll Never Tell” and “Walk Through the Fire.”
The cast includes Andrea Janine Bernardo, Emily Enden, Carina Gravante, Margaret Hall, Danielle Kirshenblat, Myles McHale, Rachel Robins, Evan Michael Smith, Allison St Rock, Sam Underwood and Johnny Vorsteg, with the performers stepping into roles originated by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, James Marsters and the rest of the Buffy ensemble.
After the show, there will be a round of Buffy trivia for fans who want to show off and maybe win some swag.
Part of what made the episode a cult classic from the moment it aired was its ambition. "Once More, With Feeling" blended humor and heartbreak with a level of craft usually reserved for Broadway. It has been screened in movie theaters, sung during karaoke nights and quoted endlessly online. Two decades later, its influence can be felt in musical episodes of everything from Scrubs to Riverdale.
For tickets to the November 19 show, click here. For December 9 tickets, click here.