ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME On Broadway - Opening Night Reviews- Page 2

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:09pm

Vincentelli in NYT is mostly negative:

‘Once Upon a One More Time’ Review: Cinderella, Liberated (Again)

The Britney Spears jukebox musical, about fairy tale princesses fighting for their emancipation, comes up short as a narrative of feminist awakening.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/theater/once-upon-a-one-more-time-review.html

"this big, splashy show, which is quite entertaining at times, is hampered by a shambolic jumble of sisterhood 101 messaging and defanged fantasy revisionism."

 

"And though the numbers for “ … Baby One More Time,” “Circus” and “Crazy” look fantastic, the one-size-fits-most staging can become repetitive, and is not as effective in those moments when a less in-your-face approach is needed.

Worse, the songs often barely suit the story, even with some tweaked lyrics. Exceptions include Cinderella’s stepsisters (Ryann Redmond and Tess Soltau) commanding her to “Work Bitch.” The Max Martin jukebox musical “& Juliet,” which is playing a thousand feet away and features five Spears hits, integrates book and songs with less visible seams and more wit."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:11pm

Daily Beast is negative:

Review: Britney Spears Musical Is a Puzzling Fairytale

“Once Upon a One More Time” is packed with Britney’s songs—some done well, some done not, and a fun-free Cinderella.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/review-britney-spears-musical-once-upon-a-one-more-time-is-a-puzzling-fairytale

"To be clear, Once Upon a Time One More Time is not a disaster. The company is great, dancing and singing up the necessary storm for number after number. This is a pleasant, rather than magically bravura, night out that, which—oddly for its themes—feels conservative not radical. Can Cinderella, as an icon, only be imagined as sensible? Must she always be strong and true and right, and have no quirks in her journey, or flaws of her own? In changing her ending, the writers who keep trying to reimagine her oddly keep placing her in the most restrictive character straitjackets. In this musical, as an entire company is having fun around her, she has very little fun. She is always doughtily learning, and staying terribly polite in all her pushing back."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:12pm

Theatermania is mostly negative:

Review: Once Upon a One More Time, Broadway’s Awkwardly Arranged Marriage of Britney Spears and Feminism

https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-once-upon-a-one-more-time-broadways-awkwardly-arranged-marriage-of-britney-spears-and-feminism_1706165/

"Once Upon a One More Time emerges as a worthwhile concept thwarted by poor execution. It is certainly preferable to a Britney Spears biomusical, which would have been a sad affair for a 41-year-old artist with more yet to offer. After seeing it, I realized just how hard it is to make an audience hear a well-known song in a new way, to make it do work it wasn’t originally designed to do. So much thought must go into every lyric and dramatic beat (something far more in evidence over at & Juliet, a vastly superior musical of this variety).

Once Upon a One More Time may not have taught me anything new about western mythology, feminism, or Britney Spears, but it did leave me with one surprise: a newfound respect for the art of the jukebox musical."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:13pm

Zero stars from NY Post:

‘Once Upon a One More Time’ review: Britney Spears’ Broadway show is awful

https://nypost.com/2023/06/22/once-upon-a-one-more-time-review-britney-spears-awful-show/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:14pm

Two three-star reviews from NY Stage Review:

Once Upon a One More Time: What, You’re Tired of Fairy Tale Musicals?

https://nystagereview.com/2023/06/22/once-upon-a-one-more-time-what-youre-tired-of-fairy-tale-musicals/

 

Once Upon a One More Time: Betty Friedan Would Plotz

★★★☆☆ Sometimes a supposed tribute is an ill-camouflaged insult. Brittany Spears gets lionized in this femmage; Betty Friedan, not so much.

https://nystagereview.com/2023/06/22/once-upon-a-one-more-time-betty-friedan-would-plotz/

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:15pm

brutal reviews

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:16pm

Washington Post:

Britney Spears and Broadway: A toxic combination

‘Once Upon a One More Time,’ a sassy fairy-tale extravaganza featuring the Spears songbook, is a storybook mess

https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2023/06/22/one-more-time-broadway-spears/

"You don’t have to wait for the first AI musical. It’s here. Well, the artificial part, anyway.

The ingredients of “Once Upon a One More Time” — various fairy tales, a bunch of Britney Spears songs, a how-to-strut-and-tut manual — may very well have been fed into a computer and reformulated by Chatbot GPT. For all I know, the musical might unfold in a different, random sequence of songs, words and dance every night at the Marquis Theatre, where it had its official Broadway opening Thursday.

Well, actually, having seen an earlier incarnation of this bombastic, mechanical entertainment in 2021 at D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, I know that it plays out as it did before. Little has been done to address its deficiencies. The central flaw is a slipshod story that just doesn’t track — I know, I know, it’s all supposed to be a sugary coconut-cream cupcake of a show, not meant to awaken serious palates. Still, Jon Hartmere’s book is such a hodgepodge of disjointed ideas that software intervention might actually have helped."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:18pm

3/5 from Telegraph:

Oops! Britney Spears’s hits meet Cinderella in this muddled jukebox musical

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/once-upon-a-one-more-time-marquis-review-britney-spears/

"At its best, Once Upon a One More Time is an arena-style concert full of rousing numbers (Baby One More Time, Crazy), agile, athletic dancers and pulsating light displays directed and choreographed by husband-and-wife Broadway newcomers Keone and Mari Madrid. (Concertgoers – sorry, audience members – even get an LED wristband that lights up during the final number.) But the story, by another Broadway newbie, Jon Hartmere, aims for both impishness and profundity, with muddled results."

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:19pm

Queerty:

Once is enough for Broadway’s Britney Spears musical, ‘Once Upon a One More Time’

https://www.queerty.com/once-is-enough-for-broadways-britney-spears-musical-once-upon-a-one-more-time-20230622

The Britney Army will likely say, “Gimme More.” For those simply looking for an energizing but ultimately forgettable night on Broadway, once might be enough for Once Upon a One More Time.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:19pm

Broadway News is positive:

Review: ‘Once Upon a One More Time’ thrillingly weds fairy-tale princesses and pop

The musical of Britney Spears songs hits all the right notes of zaniness, creativity and unbridled joy.

https://www.broadwaynews.com/review-once-upon-a-one-more-time-thrillingly-weds-fairy-tale-princesses-and-pop/

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:21pm

To be honest they’re overall better than I thought they’d be…

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:22pm

Isherwood in Wall Street Journal is a rave:

‘Once Upon a One More Time’ Review: Princesses With (Britney) Spears

This Broadway jukebox musical with a book by Jon Hartmere, directed and choreographed by Keone & Mari Madrid, cleverly meshes the pop star’s hits with lively—and empowering—fairy-tale retellings

https://www.wsj.com/articles/once-upon-a-one-more-time-review-princesses-with-britney-spears-e1e61468

"the musical’s primary assets are its splendid cast and the silly smartness of the integration of song and story. Which brings to mind the splendid, silly and smart performance of Jennifer Simard in the role of Cinderella’s stepmother. “Terror, personified,” as Cinderella puts it, Ms. Simard, while hardly stinting on the terrorizing, is so richly funny as she berates her dimwit daughters and tries to cajole the narrator into rewriting, to her terms, the Cinderella story that she practically waves a magic wand whenever she is onstage, drawing attention to her delicious antics.

Ms. Simard, seen before in “Company” and “Hello, Dolly!,” is one of Broadway’s unsung, or undersung, treasures, and her performance alone brings sufficient pleasure to make this trip to Britney-land worth a visit."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:25pm

The Wrap is negative

‘Once Upon a One More Time’ Broadway Review: Oops… Britney Spears Musical Just Did It Again

The pop star’s songbook creates a princess traffic jam in this new jukebox tuner

https://www.thewrap.com/once-upon-a-one-more-time-broadway-review-britney-spears-musical/

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:27pm

Associated Press:

Theater Review: 'Once Upon a One More Time' with Britney Spears songs will drive you crazy

https://apnews.com/article/britney-spears-broadway-musical-review-1ffe5baca1d45e850f71b6eed4195acd

"You're handed an LED wristband as you enter “Once Upon a One More Time,” a musical on Broadway stuffed with Britney Spears songs. But the gift is strangely inert for the whole show, only coming to life and gleaming at the curtain call. It's not a wristband — it's a metaphor. It glows in the end because you are free. Free of this bombastic, patronizing, clumsy, lazy show."

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:32pm

I see BWW currently has the Isherwood WSJ review as mixed, but this really does read as a rave to me. Gifted link:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/once-upon-a-one-more-time-review-princesses-with-britney-spears-e1e61468?st=ljt3hkmi3x9yh90&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:34pm

New York Theatre is mixed:

Once Upon a One More Time Review. A Britney Spears musical without Britney Spears

https://newyorktheater.me/2023/06/22/once-upon-a-one-more-time-review-a-britney-spears-musical-without-britney-spears/

"If “Once Upon a One More Time,” opening at Broadway’s Marriott Marquis Theater tonight, is clearly not strikingly original, the story does have a few distinctive touches, and the production Broadway-level pleasures. The design is flashy, and the choreography is thrilling. The talented cast is game, featuring such reliably delightful Broadway veterans as Justin Guarini as a two-timing Prince Charming and Jennifer Simard as the scheming Stepmother, as well as the impressively weight-bearing Broadway debut of Briga Heelan as Cinderella. But the show is probably best appreciated by taking the advice offered in a different context in the musical by a character called the Narrator: “Don’t overthink it.”"

 

[sng]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:35pm

Much better reviews than Bad Cinderella. Hope the show have a good word of mouth. Most fun show i’ve seen jn a while

[theaterdrew]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:36pm

Thanks for the gift link--Isherwood quibbles a couple of things but clearly on balance is positive.

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:43pm

Yeah, the difference between these reviews and Bad Cindy are that word of mouth is largely more positive. It’s sort of a see to be believed and you discover it’s actually a good time and not taking it’s self too seriously which was also Bad Cindy’s curse. One more time has far more going for it in my opinion, it’s pure fun not looking to change the world and entertaining as hell, if you’re looking for some deep meaning, look somewhere else and go have fun- the world sucks right now and this is mindless entertainment. 

[George in DC]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:46pm

MemorableUserName said: "The review that matters most. Anything else is gravy."

 

No

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:48pm

So you think the people who would be interested in seeing a Britney Spears musical wouldn't care about Britney Spears' opinion of the show more than anyone else's?

Okay...

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:49pm

No offense but I didn’t think the straight dude from the Post would rave about this show..

This isn’t a show for a bunch of stuffy critics. They need to get some TikTok and Influencers and celebs to spread word of mouth. Sometimes ya need a happy-before-ya-go type show. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:49pm

DTLI Consensus: It’s mediocre, b*tch.

5 positive, 5 negative, 4 mixed (including the NYT).

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/once-upon-a-one-more-time/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:50pm

Did They Like It also has Isherwood's review tagged as a mixed, which I don't understand....

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/once-upon-a-one-more-time/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/22/23 at 9:57pm

AMNY is negative:

Review | Britney Spears musical is a hot mess

https://www.amny.com/entertainment/broadway/britney-spears-musical-is-a-hot-mess/

"I tried to approach “Once Upon a One More Time” with an open mind but eventually gave in to the reality that all of the songs sound the same (“Oops” and “Hit Me Baby One More Time” are musically indistinguishable), the plotting is draggy and disjointed, he staging (with direction and choreography by Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid) is a hot mess, and the concept has been done before."