ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME Broadway Previews Thread- Page 2

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/13/23 at 11:53am

Wait...these costumes are BETTER? I thought they were ghastly....but I only have this video to judge by....perhaps in context they are terrific.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/13/23 at 9:31pm

I don't know if this is any good, but I can't say I'm not having fun (along with seemingly every other gay in New York. Stefon: New York's hottest club is....)

https://i.postimg.cc/QCCFDCXJ/20230513.jpg

Updated On: 5/13/23 at 09:31 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/13/23 at 9:54pm

pablitonizer said: "Dylan Smith4 said: "Curtain Call from last night’s dress rehearsal! WOW! That choreography is incredible!


https://youtu.be/fRm9PIr4TCo"



OMG! It completely changed from the DC tryout, love the whole IT'S BRITNEY BITCH! I keep saying this musical will be a smash hit on Broadway, mark my words"

This looks like a Royal Caribbean show for sure. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/13/23 at 10:35pm

I can't wait to see Keone and Mari Madrid's choreography. I love them.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/13/23 at 11:40pm

My opinion from intermission carried through in the end: I have no idea if it was actually any good, but it was fun enough, even if I wouldn't necessarily want to see it again. It's campy, it's cheesy, and generally likeable. But good? I don't know.

- The cast is strong. I've seen Briga Heelan in plenty of shows over the past decade and generally found her to be...fine. She seemed stuck in perfect dream girl roles in Ground Floor and Undateable, and was the weakest part of Good News. So I was surprised and impressed by her here. I thought she was completely charming and a strong lead. This is the most I've ever liked her. Guarini was quite good. The stepmother part is right in Simard's wheelhouse and she was reliably funny (in the first act she felt like she could have been continuing her big scene as Sarah in Company. But then

 

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in her big number in Act 2 she was legitimately terrifying, which I found impressive.

Ryan Steele is completely adorable. I also have to give a shoutout to the child actress who was on tonight--Isabella Ye, I believe. I thought she was excellent.

- The weakness is the book. There's too much of it (the show needed more songs), and it's not nearly as clever or smart as it should (could?) be. It pushes all the expected (and right) buttons and hits the expected empowerment notes, but in the most basic way. There were times I was wondering...is this actually kind of dumb? It's nowhere near as good as something like & Juliet. (I thought maybe it was on the same level as Titanique, but no, I don't thought it got there either.)

- Also the choreography went too heavy on weird, jerky hand and arm motions.

 

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- They seemed to be pushing a possible romantic connection between Cinderella and Snow White pretty hard, and I wondered if they were going to go there. They ultimately didn't, which felt like a bit of a cop-out, though I guess it would have felt too much like giving their story an ending when the whole point of the ending was that all the characters got to write their stories moving forward. And I got the gay romance elsewhere that hit me in my sappy gay heart, so I can't complain too much.

- I don't know if it was bad everywhere in the theater, but if you don't like really, really loud music, I wouldn't sit too close to the front. I did have to plug my ears at times. SO loud, and the seats were vibrating from the bass. Definitely gave it a club atmosphere that paid off in the end, but was a lot at times. (SO loud!)

Glad I got to see it. Not sure if it's something I would recommend, but probably perfect for the target audience (like I said earlier, the audience had to be three-quarter gays). Cheesy, campy, super gay--so...fun. Needed more songs though.

Updated On: 5/14/23 at 11:40 PM

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 1:04am

that curtain call video gave me Head Over Heels related PTSD

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 7:35am

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "that curtain call video gave me Head Over Heels related PTSD"

Granted, Head Over Heels was very campy but fun. That’s what I’m thinking this musical will be like. Now, from the videos I’ve seen, that choreography just blew me away! I would totally buy a ticket just to see that. Also, I love some Britney Spears music! 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 7:43am

Seems like this will be some good summer fun to see if I have a free night and can get a cheap ticket. 

Updated On: 5/14/23 at 07:43 AM

[BETTY22]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 9:01am

It's Titanique in a Broadway theatre. 

Silly and fun but overstays it's welcome. 

Feels like a SNL sketch that goes on way too long. 

Maybe they should have played a small off-Broadway venue where they could become a cult-like campy hit. 

[pablitonizer]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 9:41am

Per Playbill, the setlist has suffered some changes, some of them are quite interesting. I wonder why they cut off "If I'm dancing", that was a blast in DC! They also removed "I'm a slave 4 U" which is such a pity, but I wonder if they did to avoid any sort of potential backlash (if u know what I mean). They added "Brightest morning star", not my favorite but I can't wait to hear what they did with it

DC 

Act I
"...Baby One More Time"
"Make Me..." 
"Lucky" 
"Work Bitch"
"Boys" / "Pretty Girls" 
"Circus" 
"Sometimes" 
"Oops!...I Did It Again" 
"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" 
"I'm a Slave 4 U" / "Piece of Me" 
"Womanizer"
"Scream & Shout"  / "I Wanna Go"


Act II
"(You Drive Me) Crazy" 
"Lucky (Reprise)" 
"Cinderella" 
"Toxic" 
"Everytime" 
"If I'm Dancing" 
"Stronger" 
"I Wanna Go (Reprise)" 
"Passenger" 
"Till the World Ends (Megamix)" 

 

Broadway

Act I
"...Baby One More Time" 
"Make Me..." 
"Lucky" 
"Work Bitch"
"Brightest Morning Star" (new song added)
"Boys" / "Pretty Girls" 
"Circus" 
"Sometimes"
"Oops!...I Did It Again" 
"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" 
"Piece of Me"  
"Cinderella" (new order for this song)
"Womanizer" 
"Scream & Shout" / "I Wanna Go" 

Act II
"(You Drive Me) Crazy" 
"Lucky (Reprise)" 
"Cinderella" (Reprise)
"Toxic" 
"Everytime" 
"Stronger" 
"Scream & Shout" (Reprise)" (New reprised added)
"Passenger" 
"Gimme More" (new song added)
"Till the World Ends (Megamix)" 
 

Updated On: 5/14/23 at 09:41 AM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 10:04am

Looking at the list it seems like a reasonable number of songs (though some of them were shortened versions), but during the show it didn't feel that way IMO. Maybe there just wasn't a good enough balance with the book scenes, because those seemed to go on too long and it felt like there weren't enough songs. Again comparing to & Juliet and Titanique, it felt like their books better integrated and moved more efficiently between the songs than this did.

I did enjoy a lot of the stagecraft and effects, especially toward the end. Felt suitably big and impressive for Broadway.

[YvanEhtNioj]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 10:18am

 To me, that was the best choreography I’ve ever seen in a Broadway musical. It’s very intricate.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 10:54am

 

 

 

Updated On: 5/14/23 at 10:54 AM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 1:59pm

Jeez. Where else do you suppose Adam Godley would rather be during that curtain call? 

[inception]

Posted: 5/14/23 at 3:18pm

I was struck by how many empty seats there are in the orchestra.  

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 4:40am

BorisTomashevsky said: "Jeez. Where else do you suppose Adam Godley would rather be during that curtain call?"

Even in the theater Saturday night I thought that was very noticeable.

He was on Succession last night and Vulture has an interview with him about it where he briefly discusses Once Upon... He mentions the "absolutely brilliant book by Jon Hartmere" (which, okay, any actor is going to rave about the writer of a show they're in) and elsewhere mentions his partner. I went Googling because I was curious who his partner is. Obviously I didn't know Hartmere is his partner, which may explain how he got involved. (He was better than the show deserved playing a character whose motivations weren't always clear and whose levels of villainy were all over the place. Which of course comes back to the writing.)

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 4:54am

I was wondering how he got involved. 

I primarily became familiar with him because of Lehman (although I realized I'd seen him in several movies and TV shows) and it's certainly quite a jump from The Lehman Trilogy to Once Upon a One More Time.

Besides the connection to Hartmere, I wonder if maybe a fun silly musical is what he felt he needed personally after doing Lehman for several years. 

[Melissa25]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 6:19am

Godley was divine as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in Anything Goes.  Such a memorable performance. 

[HunterK]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 7:50am

What was the running time when you went? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 8:27am

Saturday night it started a bit late (around 8:08 or 8:10). Show was completely over (megamix and bows for Broadway debuts completed) by 10:40.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 11:24am

To be fair to Adam Godley, he probably still has wasabi and Lacroix in his eyes. 

[theaterdrew]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 7:06pm

‘Once Upon a One More Time’ Musical Authorized by Britney Spears, License Negotiated Post-Conservatorship

I didn't figure they'd have plastered her name everywhere otherwise.

[pablitonizer]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 7:54pm

theaterdrew said: "‘Once Upon a One More Time’ Musical Authorized by Britney Spears, License Negotiated Post-Conservatorship

I didn't figure they'd have plastered her name everywhere otherwise."

Of course there is no way the musical could have continued without her approval. Her name is on the marquee

 

[B212323]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 9:08pm

So we have TWO musicals featuring "Oops I Did It Again" and  "...Baby One More Time" right now? 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 5/15/23 at 9:10pm

B212323 said: "So we have TWO musicals featuring "Oops I Did It Again" and "...Baby One More Time" right now?"

Also, two musicals featuring “Stronger” and “Toxic.”