The Britney Spears inspired jukebox musical Once Upon A One More Time opened on Broadway June 22, 2023, and closed on September 3rd 2023. Running a total of 123 performances, the show had a pretty short run for a Broadway show, which means it wasn’t getting enough attention drawn to it and the show was losing money. That is truly sad, because between the choreography, the cast, the costumes, the musical numbers, the message and the creative twist on the story of our classic princesses, it was truly a phenomenal show.
The story opens with a young girl and a man on the stage, and the girl says “Read me a story!” A voice replies, asking what she’d like to read, to which she responds “A fairytale!” The man hands her a book and she walks off into the darkness with that book. Then, the opening number “Hit Me Baby One More Time” is a fun introduction of all of the princesses, and the child finally chooses Cinderella as her fairytale to read. With that, the show officially begins.
Once Upon A One More Time follows a new, modern story of Cinderella and her fellow princesses. The best way to describe this show is as a twisted tale. This twisted tale is the story of all the princesses we know getting “revenge” on their prince. But, notice it’s “prince” and not “princes.” Charming is everyone’s prince. Everyone finding out that Charming is cheating on all of them as a “princessizer,” their play on the term “womanizer,” quickly leads to a feminist princess rebellion. So, the princesses, along with the Original Fairy Godmother, set off on an adventure that will change their lives.
Once the princesses are found by the narrator and Cinderella’s step-mother, it leads into the number “Toxic”, a very well known Spears song. Yet, you’ve never heard anyone sing it better, as the composers made it so much more belty and dramatic. But all of the credit truly goes to Jennifer Simard, who plays the evil stepmother, for what she did to the number and her raspy dark twist she put in as the Stepmother into the number made it so much better. To make it even better, the choreography added by the princesses in the background is amazing. Toxic is truly the best number of the show.
Cinderella finding freedom, starting with “Cinderella’s Got to Go,” moves everyone. She does an awesome quick change out of her plain gown to an amazingly beautiful and glittery two piece skirt top. As for the ending of her adventure, it is one of the most moving endings to a show ever. At the show’s conclusion, Cinderella has to make the biggest decision of her life. Does she get back together with Charming? Or does she truly find herself, and go off on her own to write her own ending? Cinderella breaks her glass slipper, glitter flies everywhere, and in that moment, she truly chooses to prioritize herself and her own journey, marking her own adventure. It is truly magical, and it symbolizes that a woman does not need a man to be by her side to be respected, and she can be seen for who she is. She says, “Well behaved princesses rarely make history” earlier in the musical, and yet, here she is, ready to make history. It’s a nice, complete cycle for her character development.
The cast really was impressive. Justin Guarini, who played the role of Prince Charming, is best known for being runner up to Kelly Clarkson in American Idol back in 2002. Charming is a very dislikable character in this show, as he is portrayed as a “dominant male” stereotype. He acts like he’s the most important person in the world: he’s narcissistic, and self-centered, as the stereotype goes. Opposite him was Briga Heelan, as Cinderella. Her performance was absolutely phenomenal, and her way of portraying her character was perfect. She’s truly a great actress. The two of them opposing each other was an example of perfect casting, and their chemistry was really funny, considering that in this production, Cinderella and Charming don’t get along.
Once Upon a One More Time was a phenomenal show, and definitely deserves a 5/5 rating. We all hope to see it return to Broadway someday, as it was too short lived, and was a respected, well loved show by many.