Justin Guarini Set to Star in Broadway’s New Britney Spears Musical
Written by djfrosty on February 16, 2023
From Justin to Britney! News broke on Thursday (Feb. 16) that Justin Guarini will star in Once Upon a One More Time, the upcoming Britney Spears jukebox musical hitting Broadway this spring.
The show, which was written by Jon Hartmere and directed by the duo of Keone and Mari Madrid, will tell the story of just what happens when classic fairytale characters like Cinderella, the Little Mermaid and Snow White come across a new kind of storybook: The Feminine Mystique.
Told through Spears litany of hits — from “…Baby One More Time” and “Lucky” to “Work Bitch” and “Womanizer” — the show is set to raise its curtain at the Marquis Theatre for previews on May 13 with opening night slated for June 22, according to a report by Entertainment Weekly. Joining Guarini’s Prince Charming will be Briga Heelan as Cinderella and Aisha Jackson as Snow White. All three performers originated the roles in the jukebox musical’s out-of-town production in Washington D.C. from Nov. 2021 to Jan. 2022.
While Guarini famously got his start as the runner-up to Kelly Clarkson on the inaugural season of American Idol back in 2002, he has multiple Broadway credits on his resume including Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, American Idiot, Romeo and Juliet, Wicked and In Transit.
Somewhat curiously, Once Upon a One More Time will become the second musical on Broadway currently using Spears’ discography following the runaway success of & Juliet, a modern retelling of the story of Romeo and Juliet through the lens of Max Martin’s music. That show contains the likes of “…Baby One More Time,” “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” “Overprotected,” “Oops!…I Did It Again” and “Stronger” among its 28 musical numbers.