'Once Upon a One More Time' : Britney Spears' Broadway show is awful

[samhexum]

'Once Upon a One More Time' review: Britney Spears' Broadway show is awful

Fresh off of “Bad Cinderella” comes the new Broadway musical “Once Upon a One More Time” — an even worse Cinderella.

 

The dreadful show, which opened Thursday night at the Marquis Theatre, takes the pop songs of Britney Spears and plops them willy-nilly in a feminist Cinders in which the main character realizes there’s more to life than falling in love with a prince.

Good for you, Cindy, but wouldn’t it be nice if you were both a freethinking, independent woman and your musical’s story made a lick of sense?

It’s bibbidi-bobbidi-brainless. Instead of crafting compelling characters or a gripping plot, book writer Jon Hartmere has combined dance floor tunes from the aughts and half-baked, teacher’s-pet ideas into shapeless mush.

“Once Upon” is rarely fun, but always cloying and impossible to follow.

 

 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I saw this a couple of days ago and would agree.  It's a trainwreck.  I don't want to see more of this rushed-to-concept show on Broadway.

The one saving grace is Jennifer Simard who belts out Toxic.  It's a genuinely thrilling number thanks to her voice.

 

[+ RyanDean]

I don't know that I'd call it AWFUL. (Perhaps because I did see Bad Cinderella.)
But -- aside from the brilliant Simard and the deft Guarini -- it's definitely ho-hum-hokum.

[+ Lucky]

A nude appearance by Sam Asghari might help the show.