once upon a time on broadway

It’s Britney … on Broadway. 

Once Upon a One More Time, a jukebox musical inspired by the music of Britney Spears, is headed to Broadway. The show announced Friday it will begin previews at the Marquis Theatre in May 2023 before opening on June 22. 

With a book by Jon Hartmere, Once Upon a One More Time combines Spears’ music with iconic fairy tale characters, including Cinderella, Snow White, and the Little Mermaid, whose “stories get a rewrite when a fairy godmother gives them Friedan’s landmark 1963 feminist tome The Feminine Mystique,” Playbill.com explains. The songs featured include “Baby One More Time,” “Oops! … I Did It Again,” “I’m a Slave 4 U,” and “Toxic.”

Once Upon a One More Time has been in the works for years and was scheduled to open in Chicago in 2019 before being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it premiered in 2021 at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., receiving mixed reviews. “This frustratingly rushed sensation is emblematic of a production that packs in too many competing conceits and devices,” The Washington Post said, while DC Theater Arts called it a “full-fledged, grade A, gold star success.” 

Spears previously expressed approval of the musical, saying in 2019, “I’m so excited to have a musical with my songs — especially one that takes place in such a magical world filled with characters that I grew up on, who I love and adore. This is a dream come true for me!” 

The cast for the Broadway show hasn’t been announced. Members of Spears’ fan club can buy tickets now before they officially go on sale on Dec. 5.