Britney Spears’ jukebox musical ‘Once Upon a One More Time’ is not a biographical show about the life of Britney Spears. Rather, it was “Oops!” “…I did it again”, “Womanizer”, “Toxic”, “Gimme More” and of course “…Baby One More Time” – I was being played by someone. To tell the story of a blonde princess who noticed. A handsome rogue controlled by a ubiquitous father figure rises up and fights for liberation.
Hmm, maybe (perfectly allowed) apples don’t fall far from the tree.
But this massive, glitzy show, at times quite entertaining, is hampered by Sisterhood 101 messages and a confusing jumble of aggressive fantasy revisionism. Rewriting classic threads with a pop-feminist twist has become big business, Disney is updating its operating systems one at a time, and princesses and fairy tales are petrifying into common tropes of empowerment on Broadway. I mean—think Frozen, Aladdin. ‘Bad Cinderella’, or ‘Head Over Heels’ for an artistically successful example.
“Once Upon a One More Time” introduces a familiar figure, Cinderella (Brigga Heeran), but here she begins to feel vaguely insecure about her life. She and her fellow storybook heroines – Snow White (Aisha Jackson), Princess Pee (Morgan Whitley), Rapunzel (Gabriel Beckford), Sleeping Beauty (Ashley Chiu) and The Little Mermaid (Lauren).・Zakurin) is swung around by the domineering narrator (Adam). For Godley, this must be like a vacation after the Lehman trilogy.) He’s basically a domineering stage director who acts on behalf of the patriarchy.
Cinderella should be content with her happy days, but loneliness may kill her. But shut up, pretty girl, and get those thoughts out of your sweet head. Her prince (Justin Guarini) soothes her. “You are paid to be beautiful, and I am paid to be attractive.”
