“Once Upon a One More Time,” which tells the story of six princesses in a musical set to the hits of Britney Spears, may sound like fluff.
Think again, because this musical turns classic fairy tales upside down as Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, the Little Mermaid and Princess Pea ditch their princes to create their own “happily ever after.”
The musical, which features plenty of tongue-in-cheek comedy, opened June 27 at Rubber City Theatre in Akron and runs through July 12.
How do these fairy-tale princesses take charge of their damsel-in-distress lives? The O.F.G. (Original Fairy Godmother), played by Sharon Jackson, just happens to drop a copy of Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” into the lap of Cinderella, who, of course, ends up sharing the book with the other princesses.
“Cinderella is questioning her existence in this fairy-tale world and gets introduced to ‘The Feminine Mystique’ and it throws the whole fairy-tale world almost into chaos, like it upends the whole status quo,” said Dane Leasure, director of the show and executive artistic director for Rubber City Theatre.
“They all start to go, ‘Wait, there’s more than like cooking and cleaning and just their princes? This is kind of crazy,'” he said.
The six princesses revolt, with the mayhem set to a big, modern musical dance party.
The musical, whose book is written by Jon Hartmere, is based on music performed and created by Spears, including “… Baby One More Time,” “Crazy,” Oops … I Did it Again,” “Toxic” and “Circus.” “Once Upon a One More Time” weaves 23 of the Princess of Pop’s chart-popping hits into a fantasy storybook realm.
In this story, the princesses are friends with each other during their downtime, when their stories aren’t being told. They get together for their “scroll club,” a reading group where they discuss each other’s fairy tales.
“It’s almost kind of like ‘Barbie’ in a way, where it’s like they exist in this world when they’re being read, they put on their performance, but then, outside of that, they’re still their characters but it’s like they’re off the cl+ock and so (they) can hang out,” Leasure said.
The princesses start breaking the rules, infiltrating each other’s stories, and discover some painful truths. All of them end up being transformed by feminist awakenings.
Largely new cast at Rubber City
The 15-member, professional cast features two Equity actors: Tricia Bestic, a first-timer at Rubber City Theatre as Stepmother and Jackson. Eleven women and a young girl dominate the cast, while three men play Prince Charming, Clumsy/Prince Suave and Prince Erudite.
Emersyn Kotopka, a fourth-grader from Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts, plays a key part as the real-world Little Girl who reads the fairy tales.
In this story, all of the princes are foolish cads. Prince Charming (Gavin Kastner) cares only about being charming, not reading books or thinking.
He greets Cinderella (Isabella Audia), who’s wearing her glass slippers, by saying, “How’s my favorite 8½ narrow?”
“She’s thinking,” Cinderella responds.
Most of the musical’s cast is new to Rubber City Theatre, with just five having performed there before. They are Kastner, Jackson, Camara Rhodes, Theodore Kaden and Alexa Warmuth.
“Once Upon a One More Time” debuted on Broadway in 2023, where it played for less than three months. Before that, it had a pre-Broadway tryout in 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Leasure said when he was looking for a musical to produce this summer, the Spears jukebox show popped up.
“I love Britney Spears but I (didn’t) know about this, because sometimes you see a certain jukebox musical and you’re kind of like, ‘Is that gonna be good or not?'”
After watching online clips from the show and reading the script, Leasure realized “Once Upon a One More Time” looked really good and had a strong story.
The Spears songs work remarkably well with the musical’s storytelling, he said. Unlike some jukebox musicals, the director said, the songs don’t come across as being forced into the narrative for “Once Upon a One More Time.”
“It really does blend very well and where they (the songs) come feels very organic versus forcing it in,” he said. “It fits well with the way the story is being told.”
Leasure said “Toxic” is one of the coolest remixes in the show. Originally an upbeat, pop song for Spears, it’s slowed down and sung in a sinister manner by Stepmother in this musical.
“Once Upon a One More Time” is a romp. But when all is said and done, the show carries a valuable message about female empowerment.
“There are good, fluffy moments but it’s got a good story and it’s still gonna make you feel good when you leave,” Leasure said. “I think right now, that’s what we need in the world.”
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
Details
Musical: “Once Upon a One More Time”
When: Continuing through July 12, 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, no performance July 4
Where: Sandefur Theatre, Guzzetta Hall, University of Akron, 228 E. Buchtel Ave.
Onstage: Isabella Audia, Gavin Kastner, Tricia Bestic, Talia Eshenbaugh, Emma Robb, Emersyn Kotopka, Sharon Jackson, Alexa Warmuth, Evan Adeen, Ilse Zijlstra, Katie Soltis, Lila Wagner Gleeson, Kayla Streem, Camara Rhodes, Theodore Kaden
Offstage: Music of Britney Spears; Jon Hartmere, book; James Olmstead and Matt Stine, orchestrations; Nadia DiGiallonardo, vocal arrangements; Dane Leasure, director; Sharon Alberson, music director; Rachael Palermo, choreographer; Barbara Kozlov, stage manager; Sharon Jackson, assistant stage manager; Kendra Strickland, costume designer; Eugene Rogers, sound designer; Rob Leeper, scenic designer; Jonathon Hunter, lighting designer
Cost: $30; pay-what-you-can seats available
Information: rubbercitytheatre.com or 330-227-4787
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Princesses not that innocent in musical comedy full of Britney Spears hits
Reporting by Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
