As soon as Upon A One Extra Time is one among Britney Spears’ first official initiatives following the termination of her 13-year conservatorship.
Helmed by administrators and choreographers Keone and Mari Madrid, with an unique story by Jon Hartmere, the musical comedy is slated to open on June 22 on the Marquis Theater and can function hits like “Oops I Did It Once more,” “Fortunate,” “Circus” and “Poisonous.”
Forward of its Broadway run, As soon as Upon a One Extra Time had made a number of makes an attempt at a pre-Broadway engagement in Chicago starting in 2019 earlier than it made its eventual world premiere in December 2021 at Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Firm — practically half a yr earlier than a Los Angeles decide formally ended Spears’ conservatorship.
Whereas the singer was reportedly current for an early studying in 2019, and gave a press release to Playbill calling it “a dream come true for me,” questions remained concerning the degree of her involvement and consent to the usage of her music at a time when she had stated different parts of her life — together with her funds and reproductive well being decisions — have been being managed by her father, Jamie Spears.
Now, as these questions proceed to swirl, how a lot involvement the princess of pop had within the lead-up to the musical’s Broadway run is being clarified. Forward of the present’s first preview on Saturday, producers James L. Nederlander and Hunter Arnold confirmed that As soon as Upon A One Extra Time is totally approved and licensed by Britney Spears, and that the license settlement was negotiated, agreed to and signed post-conservatorship by the Grammy-winner in 2022.
The musical was additionally primarily based on an concept the pop star had advised, and created in collaboration with Spears. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to a rep for Spears for remark.
When the musical’s Broadway run was first introduced on the singer’s forty first birthday, the present was merely billed as having been impressed by music carried out and recorded by Spears, who was in any other case not identified to be concerned. A rep for the musical additionally instructed THR all of the musical compositions within the present have been licensed by their publishers with the approval of the songwriters. (It was beforehand unclear who might authorize the usage of Spears music below her conservatorship.)
And earlier than the musical’s D.C. run in 2021, Hartmere stated he was “given entry to all of Spears’s songs,” in keeping with an interview with The Washington Publish. “The one factor I used to be instructed was that she loves fairies,” he stated of Spears. “And I used to be like, ‘That’s it, that’s what we’ve obtained to go on.’”
The musical will not be about Spears, however sees Cinderella, Snow White, and different storybook heroines’ narratives turned the other way up when their e book membership will get a maintain of The Female Mystique due to a rogue fairy godmother, and so they start to query the which means of “fortunately ever after.”
Briga Heelan stars as Cinderella, Justin Guarini as Prince Charming, Aisha Jackson as Snow White, Jennifer Simard as Stepmother, Adam Godley as The Narrator, Brooke Dillman as The O.F.G. (Authentic Fairy Godmother), Ryann Redmond as Stepsister Belinda and Tess Soltau as Stepsister Betany.
Extra forged members embrace Gabrielle Beckford as Rapunzel, Ashley Chiu as Sleeping Magnificence, Nathan Levy as Clumsy, Ryan Steele as Prince Erudite, Morgan Whitley as Princess Pea, Lauren Zakrin as Little Mermaid, Liv Battista as Belle, Pauline Casiño as Esmeralda, Selene Haro as Gretel, Joshua Daniel Johnson as Prince Brawny, Amy Hillner Larsen as Goldilocks, Justice Moore as Purple, Kevin Trinio Perdido as Prince Mischievous, Mikey Ruiz as Prince Gregarious, Josh Tolle as Prince Suave with Matt Allen, Jacob Burns, Salisha Thomas, Diana Vaden, Mila Weiras, Stephen Scott Wormley and Isabella Yeas.
