‘Once Upon a One More Time’ Review: Britney Spears Hits Push Broadway Princesses to Break Free of Fairy Tales
variety.comA.D. Amorosi While it is debatable that the life of the newly emancipated Britney Spears is a fairy tale at present, the singer’s catalog of hits surely has the feel of a fable with feminist-forward empowerment.
That’s what writer Jon Hartmere and director-choreographers Keone and Mari Madrid use as the basis for “Once Upon a One More Time,” their Broadway twist on staid, storybook romanticism and tired male-centric tropes.
With its giddy, surprisingly caustic script and rapier-fast score, this pop-musical course correction (authorized by Spears, post-conservatorship) is built for speed and social awareness.
For the Madrids (known for their work with Justin Bieber and BTS) and Hartmere (who penned 2017’s cinematic dramedy “The Upside”), the goal of empowering women, crushing the patriarchy and rejecting servitude to Peter Pan-like princes is no easy task.
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