ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME Was Fully Authorized by Britney Spears

Once Upon a One More Time, the new musical featuring the music of Britney Spears, is now in previews on Broadway. BroadwayWorld has learned that the musical is fully authorizaed by Spears herself, and was signed by the singer in 2022, after her conservatorship ended.

According to a statement from the musical's producers, "Once Upon A One More Time is fully authorized and licensed by Britney Spears. Once Upon a One More Time's license agreement with Britney Spears was negotiated, agreed to, and signed by Britney Spears in 2022, post-conservatorship."

The producing team also stated that the musical was created in collaboration with Britney Spears based on an idea she suggested.

"This musical is a celebration of Britney, created by a team and cast of her biggest fans," the musical's producers said in a statement to BroadwayWorld. "The team is humbled, grateful, and beyond thrilled that she herself was the catalyst for its concept, attended an early workshop, and made a post-conservatorship deal with the show, authorizing it to move forward to Broadway. We're all dedicated to making a show worthy of her name, music, and legendary influence."

Helmed by internally acclaimed, Drama Desk-nominated Director & Choreographers Keone & Mari Madrid (Beyond Babel, Karate Kid), Once Upon a One More Time is an electrifying and witty new musical comedy featuring an original story written by Jon Hartmere (bare, The Upside). Fully authorized and licensed by Britney Spears post-conservatorship, and inspired by an idea she proposed, the musical weaves the chart-topping hits of the undisputed Princess of Pop - including "Oops I Did It Again," "Lucky," "Circus," "Toxic", and more - into a brand-new kind of fairy tale. When Cinderella, Snow White, and other storybook heroines gather for book club, they always discuss the same book, Grimms' Fairy Tales - because as far as they know, it's the only book that's ever been written. That is, until a rogue fairy godmother drops The Feminine Mystique into their corseted laps. From now on, "happily ever after" will never be the same.

Leading the Original Broadway Cast of the musical, which will celebrate its official opening night at the Marquis Theater on Thursday, June 22, 2023, are Briga Heelan ("Great News", "Ground Floor") will star as Cinderella, Justin Guarini ("American Idol", Wicked) as Prince Charming, and Aisha Jackson (Frozen, Paradise Square) as Snow White, reprising the roles they originated in the world premiere production of Once Upon a One More Time, which played a sold-out, extended engagement at the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), in Washington, D.C, from November 29, 2021-January 9, 2022. Joining the cast for the Broadway premiere are two-time Tony Award nominee Jennifer Simard (Company, Mean Girls) as Stepmother, two-time Tony Award nominee Adam Godley (The Lehman Trilogy, Hulu's "The Great") as The Narrator, comedienne Brooke Dillman ("The Wayne Brady Show", "The Office") as The O.F.G. (Original Fairy Godmother), Ryann Redmond (Frozen, Bring It On) as Stepsister Belinda, and Tess Soltau (Wicked, "The Good Fight") as Stepsister Betany.

Gabrielle Beckford (The Prom 1st Natl. Tour, Gloria: A Life at A.R.T.) will play Rapunzel, Ashley Chiu (KPOP at Ars Nova, She Said) is Sleeping Beauty, Nathan Levy (Dear Evan Hansen) is Clumsy, Ryan Steele (Newsies, Matilda the Musical) is Prince Erudite, Morgan Whitley (American Psycho, The Greatest Showman) is Princess Pea, and Lauren Zakrin (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812) is Little Mermaid. Rounding out the cast are Matt Allen (Escape to Margaritaville, Something Rotten), Liv Battista (Billie Eilish Tour, Beyond Babel) as Belle, Jacob Burns (Hamilton Tour), Pauline Casiño ("Little Voice" on Apple TV+, Candace Brown's The Soul Spot) as Esmeralda, Selene Haro (Beyond Babel) as Gretel, Joshua Daniel Johnson (Disney's Sneakerella) as Prince Brawny, Amy Hillner Larsen (The Marvelous Wonderettes, Hairspray Tour) as Goldilocks, Justice Moore (Hamilton, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel") as Red, Kevin Trinio Perdido (Almost Famous, Fire Island The Musical) as Prince Mischievous, Mikey Ruiz (Beyond Babel) as Prince Gregarious, Salisha Thomas (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Josh Tolle (Kinky Boots 1st Natl. Tour, The Heart of Rock & Roll) as Prince Suave, Diana Vaden (Tootsie, Mack and Mabel at Encores!) as Swing, Mila Weir as Little Girl, Stephen Scott Wormley (The Lion King, "The Blacklist") as Prince Affable, and Isabella Ye as Little Girl.

The world premiere production of Once Upon a One More Time played a sold-out, extended engagement at the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), in Washington, D.C, from November 29, 2021-January 9, 2022, and was praised as "ingenious, and improbably funny" (Washingtonian). The musical was described as "an evening of buoyant delight" by The Washington Post critic Peter Marks, who also wrote in a feature on the production, "Once Upon A One More Time is one of the most ambitious new musicals in a theater world awakening to a creative new day - a most unlikely cultural mash-up, reframing a bevy of storybook characters in an enlightened, modern context." NPR said the show, "combines fairytales, Betty Friedan and Britney Spears in a large-scale, Broadway way, resulting in clever, uproarious fun. Who couldn't use a little more fun these days?" DC Metro Theater Arts raved the show is, "inspiring! A full-fledged, Grade A, gold star success... and exactly the party we need right now. It is as thought-provoking as it is toe-tapping, as clever as it is hilarious, as bold as it is shiny. I predict it will be an intergenerational smash."

Joining the Madrids and Hartmere on the musical's creative team are five-time Tony Award nominee David Leveaux (Nine, Romeo and Juliet on Broadway, NBC's "Jesus Christ Superstar LIVE") as Creative Consultant, Tony Award-nominated Scenic Designer Anna Fleischle (Hangmen, Everybody's Talking About Jamie), Costume Designer Loren Elstein (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead), Tony Award-winning Lighting Designer Kenneth Posner (Wicked, Beetlejuice), Sound Designer Andrew Keister (KPOP, On Your Feet!), Tony-nominated Projection Designer Sven Ortel (Newsies) and Drama Desk nominated Wig Designer Nikiya Mathis (Death of a Salesman, Chicken & Biscuits). Casting is by Hardt Casting (West Side Story).