ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME

This weekend, I had a blast at the opening of the cleverly-monikered musical, Once Upon a One More Time. It’s playing at a theatre that was entirely new to me, the Jaxx, which is way up in Hollywood. First of all, the show is a jukebox musical featuring all Britney Spears songs, so what’s not to like? And the whole audience was fun—we were all mingling from the moment we entered the edifice! It felt sort-of like a party. I had a fabulous time with the theatre personnel, nice guys Colin and Nate, and several of the other audience members. I admired the outfit on the guy who sat in front of me, (who turned-out to be a designer,) and a couple of other dudes told my friend Marc they loved my shiny boots. The evening went like that throughout; it was a mutual admiration society. I’ve rarely seen so many strangers be willing to socialize from the get-go.

Once Upon a One More Time features a big cast, colorful costumes, and lots of good, energetic dancing. Marc says the musical is “light-hearted, fun, and entertaining.” And a “great distraction from what’s going on in the world nowadays.” He added that it’s a “very cheerful show,” and declares that he was “entertained from beginning to end.”

I can’t be as complimentary of this very ambitious production as he is, but I got more into the music and dancing as it went on. The story, not so much.

My main issue is with the really awful script, which is by no means the fault of Jaxx Theatricals—the show was on Broadway in 2023. (But it lasted there only two and a half months, which tells us that it’s just not that good a tale.) It seems to me that the playwright was trying to make it be a mash-up of & Juliet and Into The Woods. But it doesn’t come close to either. It’s a really confusing story to begin with, and once real-life feminist author Betty Friedan’s name was thrown in, they lost me. Even my 147IQ couldn’t decipher much of this one. (But the narrative does bring up the conundrum of encouraging our children to discover the magical world of fairy tales while still telling them that those “happily ever after” scenarios don’t necessarily fly in today’s world. As a former elementary school teacher, the whole topic of how to solve that dilemma makes my head spin.)

The synopsis is something about fairytale princesses, led by Cinderella, becoming feminists and eschewing their previous visions of what “happy ever after” means to them. (Whew—I honestly did not think I could boil this complicated plot down to one sentence!) Maybe I didn’t quite get it because, as a princess myself, I’ve had my happily ever after with Mr. X for a long time now, so I totally believe in real-life fairytales. (By the way, the sign on the back of the stage, and all the dialogue, says “happy ever after,” when it should be “happily ever after.” It even irked Marc, who usually doesn’t care about such things!)

Again, none of the writing of the book of the musical has anything to do with this company. And even with the bad script, it was an excellent decision to bring a recent-but-obscure musical to us Angelenos. I give the producers major props for that choice.

My only other negative is that this rendition of the musical doesn’t feature—how shall I put it—the strongest singers. As we all know, (even just from karaoke sessions,) LA is populated with many of the best undiscovered-as-yet voices, so I was a tad surprised by some of these producers’ choices in that category. But I later found-out that Jaxx Theatricals is a theatre company, so, as all companies do, they basically cast shows from mainly their own group, with auditions for just a few roles. But everyone in it can dance, and they at least give it their all in the singing category, as well.

However, the sound is made worse by the use of headset microphones in such a small space. I believe that the theatre has just fifty seats, (configured in two rows on three sides,) so I feel that actors should be able to project to that space with their own vocal power; they don’t need mics when the audience is so close-up. (The show’s really nice director told me that mikes are actually necessary. He knows the space better than I do, so I bow to his opinion, but my feeling is that if even big theatre performers didn’t use them for hundreds of years, today’s actors should learn how to project.)

Still, the music makes the show. And the timing of this Jaxx production could not be better, with poor, maligned Britney being all over the news again because her evil ex’s vitriolic “memoir” just came out three days before this show’s opening! I wasn’t familiar with at least half the songs, but it was really fun to hear the famous ones that I’m sure everyone knows, such as Baby One More Time, Oops!… I Did It Again, Womanizer, and Toxic. For me, Circus was, surprisingly, the best number.

I, of course, have some thoughts on the cast, as well. Rachel Logan, who plays the “Little Mermaid,” is the funniest of the girls, even though she’s the only one who doesn’t talk! (She exchanged her voice for a chance of love with the Prince, of course! Or something like that, depending on whose tale of her—Hans Christian Anderson or Disney—you choose to accept.)  Emilia Vial’s “Snow White” grew on me as the show went on. (I’m glad to see that she’s my fellow UCLA theatre girl.) Jeremy Lucas, who plays a dwarf named “Clumsy,” is the best dancer, and the most amusing actor.  Jill Marie Burke, as the Stepmother, (who sings Toxic,) is the seasoned pro of the group.

And I feel that Kara Marie, who plays the lead role of Cinderella, will work a lot in the future. She has an interesting look, easy confidence, and let me tell you—as a shallow and jealous chick, I can admit she has a bangin’ bod! (There was a really good-looking and hip guy in the audience, who I suspect might be her bae—I wish I had hung-out after the show to find-out if I’m right, because they would make a perfect couple! If not, I saw him first!)

Despite me not loving Once Upon a One More Time, this is the Los Angeles Premiere of the musical, so I suggest that fans of Britney songs or jukebox musicals or Broadway shows, in general, should see it now, while we’re lucky enough to have this opportunity.

I also say that all SoCal theatre lovers should visit this interesting theater. The guys whose company this is, Jeremy Lucas and JD Morabito, (who lovingly named it after one of their dogs,) obviously adore Broadway shows, which I really appreciate. And they’re sharing that love with all of us. In my book, two young(ish) guys having the energy and foresight to create all of this is pretty impressive.

Once Upon a One More Time running through November 1, 2025
Jaxx Theatre
5432 Santa Monica Blvd, LA
609-323-5299
www.Showclix.com/Event/Jaxx-Britney