A new musical featuring the music of Britney Spears finally has a new premiere date after it’s original run was postponed by the pandemic. The amusingly named Once Upon A One More Time had been scheduled to open last April in Chicago before lockdown restrictions saw it cancelled. Now it is set to have its premiere at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC this November.
Written by Jon Hartmere, and directed and choreographed by Keone and Mari Madrid, Once Upon A One More Time is inspired by the songs of Britney Spears. The plot centres around a book club meeting attended by various classic fairytale princesses, including Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. When a “rogue fairy godmother” turns up with The Feminine Mystique it opens their eyes to the world outside of “bird-made dresses and true love's kiss”.
23 Britney Spears songs will be powering the musical – think Mamma Mia! and ABBA songs – including “Oops!... I Did It Again”, “Lucky”, “Stronger”, and “Toxic” as well as some “deep album cuts”. The musical will apparently send “audiences on a heartwarming and uproarious musical adventure about smashing the glass slipper and reclaiming your own happily ever after.”
While Spears herself is not taking part in the production, she was reportedly in attendance at one of the readings back in 2019 and said at the time it was a dream come true for her. “I’m so excited to have a musical with my songs – especially one that takes place in such a magical world filled with characters that I grew up on, who I love and adore.”
Writer Hartmere described the show as a superfun and funny exploration of feminism. “These women have been in this hermetically sealed world, and then they start to get deeper into modern ideas – second- and third-wave feminism – and also explore how stories are passed down to us, and where we get our norms from,” he said.
Tickets to Once Upon A One More Time will go on sale later this year, find out more here.