ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME Broadway Previews Thread — Page 6

YvanEhtNioj, how were Jacob and Salisha?

Another change:

I know I said this before, but this is literally the best choreography I’ve ever seen on Broadway. Circus, Crazy, and Toxic are fuc*ing insane.

YvanEhtNioj said: "I know I said this before, but this is literally the best choreography I’ve ever seen on Broadway. Circus, Crazy, and Toxic are fuc*ing insane."



This evening when they hit that original choreography from "Oops...I Did It Again" the audience went wild.

I am not a huge Britney fan so I don't know all of her music. It was evident that lyrics were changed to fit the story and nice to hear new arrangements of songs that I know. I was dying to see this and so very glad I did.

I have also never seen a more festive walk-in to a show! With those photo booths and the bracelet handouts, the lobby was quite festive.

Updated On: 5/23/23 at 12:18 AM

I figured out how to activate the bracelet when I got it in line. I wonder if they aren't telling people how to activate them before the show so they aren't on throughout the show? At intermission I noticed that a few people had already activated them. My thought is to tell people how to do it and wait until they are told to at the end of the show. I was actually expecting an announcement right after curtain call to turn them on. It took me a bit to figure out how to turn it off! It has several settings.

The person who hands them out has always explained it to me. Each time I've been I just take the tab out when I put it on and then never touch it again. It turns on during the megamix on its own and it turns off on its own, too!

BETTY22 said: "Do you think they will be able to get Britney Spears to opening night?

She is still a massive star"

From a good source, I can confirmed she was invited to opening night. Most likely she'll decline and it's okay, she's not going anywhere, she's currently enjoying her life and she deserves it

YvanEhtNioj said: "I hope, at the very least, they can get her to promote it on her Instagram. Even if it's just once, I think it would be huge.

Midway through the show my friend turned to me and said "...who is that character saposta' be?" and I said "Clumsy. one of the dwarfs". and he said "...okay?". I think they can do a lot better at explaining that in Act 1 during the book club scene. I'm sure I can't be the only one who didn't understand why some random guy was falling down the stairs."

Good point! I honestly think that character's name was also taken from Britney song titled 'Clumsy'. Perhaps he was originally meant to have a solo moment singing that but just didn't work (?)

A friend and I got a pair of $50 tickets for this evening’s preview performance. Overall, I had a fun time but I am glad that $50 was all I spent. I would definitely be interested in seeing this again once it fully opens. Some of my thoughts below:

The Great:

• Justin Guarini: I could not keep my eyes off of him. His singing, his dancing, and his physical comedy were all fantastic. The show was at its best and most engaging when he was front and center.
• Aisha Jackson: Similar to Guarini, the show just felt better when she had the mic. Her vocal chops shone consistently throughout, but especially so when she was singing with Briga Heelan (more on her later)

The Good:

• Jennifer Simard: Simard gave a performance that was, to me, a mix of Catherine O’Hara as Moira Rose meets Jennifer Coolidge meets Mary Testa. These are all performances/performers that I love - but it sometimes took me out of the moment. With all that said, her big solo number obviously brought down the house
• Choreography: Lots of energy and exciting things happening here. And I loved the moments when some of the original Britney choreo I spent hours of my youth memorizing made its way into the show. Their incorporation of (what I believe was) ASL into it was appreciated, but fell a bit flat for me after a while.
• Ensemble: A big qualm I had with &Juliet was how low energy their ensemble was. This ensemble brought a ton of energy and life onto the stage and did wonderful work with the choreo and songs.

The Meh:

• Set design: God this show is begging for a turntable. There is a circle in the middle of the stage and at one point you see all the performers just tiptoeing themselves in circles to create a turntable effect. Additionally, there’s a large set piece that moves off and on stage that I could hear squeaking as it moved all the way from the last row of the orchestra. It moves slowly and lasted for almost an entire song. It’s still early previews so I assume there will be changes.
• Sound design: This show has music that’s meant to be played LOUD, ideally while dancing around at the club or in your bedroom or blasting in the car with the windows down, and the sound designers certainly understand that. This is something I wish the sound designers at K-POP had done. The show is loud. That being said, some of the performers were draining each other out, and oftentimes they were competing with the orchestra. Likewise with the set design, I’ll reserve full judgment on this while they work things out during previews.

The Bad:

• Briga Heelan: I am unfamiliar with her television work so had no preconceived notions of her going in. Her acting wasn’t the best, but as I mention below, the book isn’t exactly giving her a lot to work with. Her singing was - at best, lacking - and at worst, just plain bad. Any amount of momentum the show picks up grinds to a halt when she’s singing. Her mic also seemed to be much louder than everyone else’s, which meant that the harmonies during female ensemble numbers were heavily impacted by her poor singing. So much of this show relies on Cinderella’s lead vocals, and for her to have PIPES, and she does not have them. I am confused why she was cast - as she’s not a big name to draw in audience members, nor does she have a voice that wows. It was so noticeable that many women at intermission were discussing it while waiting in line for the restroom. I would have loved to see someone like Taylor Louderman take on this role and really blow the roof off.
• The Book: There’s some great, campy moments throughout, and a few that had me really laughing. But after a while, the schtick gets old. When it’s not being funny or trying to be funny, the book instead veers into a place that is so sickly sweet and so performatively “Girl power-y” that it almost comes across as disingenuous.

Updated On: 5/24/23 at 11:55 PM

BroadwayNYC2 said: "I don’t necessarily have the same concerns with Briga. I’d rather it be an acting part (which I think she bails) with the self awareness of it not being a belting part. I’d rather her than an empty Broadway belting leading lady."

Ah, unfortunately her acting fell flat for me as well. Though, to be fair, she doesn’t have the best material to work with.

Maybe it's just me, but at Broadway prices, ideally, I'd like a lead who can both act AND sing their part...

I really enjoyed Briga to be honest. It was clear her voice wasn't as strong as the heavy hitters she's up there with (Simard, Aisha, Justin, Lauren etc) but for someone who isn't known for singing I thought she sang well enough. And I enjoyed her acting personally! She brought some honesty and truth to a whacky show.