Britney Spears Is Currently Heard In Three Broadway Shows
The music of Britney Spears is currently being used in three different Broadway musicals.
The newest show to arrive on Broadway is Once Upon a One More Time, and if you don’t know anything about this new musical, it’s quite the production.
Once Upon a One More Time is the long-awaited jukebox musical featuring nothing but the art of Britney Spears. The show has been in the works for years, and it has finally made its way to NYC. The hotly-anticipated production began previews on May 13, and its opening date is currently scheduled for June 22. With a successful run already completed in Washington, DC, no one knows how Once Upon a One More Time will do on the Great White Way, and it’s yet to be seen if her younger-than-usual audience can keep it going strong.
While time will tell how Once Upon a One More Time does commercially on its biggest stage yet, it is, shockingly, not the only musical on Broadway that uses her music. In fact, there are now three shows currently running that include at least one of her singles.
Don’t believe that statement? Read on below to learn more.
Moulin Rouge!
It’s hard to believe it took so long for Moulin Rouge! to be adapted into a stage musical, but once it arrived on Broadway, it became a smash success. The title borrows heavily from the Baz Luhrmann film of the same name, as it has that signature hectic nature, and it similarly borrows many hits from across the decades. Some of the tunes featured in the show are performed in full, while in other instances, there are just snippets of singles.
One such mash-up includes “Toxic” by Spears, sandwiched in between other hits like Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”
Moulin Rouge! began previews in June 2019 and, aside from the Covid-19 pandemic, which closed everything on Broadway, has been running successfully ever since. While the show wasn’t eligible for Best Score of a Musical at the Tonys, since the music wasn’t new, the production did end up snagging Best Musical.
& Juliet
Max Martin is one of the most successful songwriters of all time, as he’s penned legendary pop hits for the likes of the Backstreet Boys, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, and yes, Britney Spears, and now many of his most beloved tunes have been worked into a story and presented on stage as & Juliet.
The musical first opened on Broadway in late 2022, and it’s still selling tickets. Recently, the show racked up nine Tony nominations, tying as the second-most-nominated production of the 2023 ceremony. Millennials are flocking to get a ticket, and those who love Spears in particular will be thrilled to hear a handful of her songs in the show, including “…Baby One More Time,” “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” “Overprotected,” “Oops!…I Did It Again,” and “Stronger.”
That’s a lot of Spears in one musical, but is there really ever such a thing as too much of her discography?
Once Upon A One More Time
The newest of the three shows that uses Spears’ hits, Once Upon A One More Time doesn’t just feature some of the music of Spears, it’s built entirely around her work. The production focuses on a number of the most popular fairytale characters who go through a major life change and become feminists. It’s a silly premise, but one that might just work brilliantly when soundtracked by many of Spears’ career-defining smashes.
For those interested, Once Upon A One More Time includes her solo songs like “Lucky,” “Work Bitch,” “Circus,” and “Everytime,” as well as the collaboration “Scream & Shout” and even a few album cuts and tunes only real fans will understand.
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