Judging musicals is hard because theatre, by design, is about an individual’s connection to a show. My love for musicals comes from a deep love of the genre while also finding something new and exciting in each show I see. There are musicals that are groundbreaking and critically acclaimed. And then there are musicals that, while not reinventing the wheel, are just plain fun to watch. Once Upon a One More Time falls into that second category. OUAOMT uses the music of Britney Spears to tell the story of fairytale princesses fighting for their own liberation from the chains of storybooks.
The show is self-aware, recognizing it isn’t in the same category as shows like Sunday in the Park With George or Next to Normal, which both won the Pulitzer Prize. But OUAOMT knows its audience. If you like Britney Spears and fairytales then great! You’re going to have fun.
It’s a quality which I think is important for Broadway to have, quite frankly. So often, theatre is defined by what moves audiences the most, but I think that’s a simplification. You could easily have something like Hamilton become a commercial success and get people into musicals, but more often than not, the musicals that people return to are not really what the larger population deems as “serious.”
Something like Once Upon a One More Time is important because it might be someone’s foot in the door of musicals and, again, it’s just really fun to watch.
It’s not reinventing the wheel, it’s just a fun time
Once Upon a One More Time follows the story of Cinderella (Briga Heelan) questioning what her “happily ever after” means. While joining scroll club with her group of fellow princesses, we see how the fairytale life we’ve all been sold through these stories isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Through self discovery and the help of Betty Friedan’s iconic book The Feminine Mystique, the show gives us a fresh look at our favorite princesses. All while having them sing “Lucky” by Britney Spears on stage together. It’s really a win-win situation.
I think that often movies get to be labeled as fun and frivolous, much like television. But because Broadway is such an expensive adventure, people want it to be thought-provoking and serious. But there must be room for musicals like this one. Once Upon a One More Time is, for lack of a better word, sweet. You can see some of the “twists” coming, and the music is catchy because Spears’ catalog is epic and universally adored. With an industry of smaller shows constantly closing before they’ve had their time to shine, shows like Once Upon a One More Time can help to get audiences into theaters and maybe even inspire them to love theater.
I loved Once Upon a One More Time a lot. Mainly because I was having a ball in the theater in a way that only a few shows have given us throughout the recent years. So go, enjoy yourself, and remember to stay after curtain call for the best Britney Spears megamix out there.
(featured image: Matthew Murphy)
