Fans of Broadway’s Britney Spears musical Once Upon a One More Time demanding “gimme more” just got lucky — or, more specifically, “Toxic.” The team behind the show – which finds fairy tale princesses singing Spears’ pop classics while discovering their own agency beyond “happily ever after” – is offering up a new cast performance clip from the production. This OUAOMT video shows the play’s antagonists, Stepmother (Jennifer Simard) and Narrator (Adam Godley), singing a twisted update on “Toxic,” Spears’ Grammy-winning top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
In case you haven’t seen the Britney-approved Broadway musical yet, brace yourself for this take on “Toxic.” Yes, the unforgettable strings are present, but the song’s delirious dance-pop energy has been subverted into an unsettling, disorienting electronic abyss, making this a villainous vocal showcase for Simard and Godley, both two-time Tony Award nominees.
If you think this version brings to mind the moody music of a Grammy-sweeping “Bad Guy,” you’re not wrong. “We love ‘Toxic’ as it was originally created, but tonally, it was too inherently playful for a musical narrative that needed to darken and take a turn,” Keone & Mari Madrid, the directors and choreographers of OUAOMT, tell Billboard. “So, we decided to take inspiration from some of our old work with Billie Eilish. Basically asking ourselves, ‘If Billie covered “Toxic,” what might that sound like?’ Our cast and creative team all leaned in to that dark, monochromatic tone.”
“It’s an honor and responsibility to try and do justice to Ms. Spears, and the song for which she won her first Grammy. There is only one Britney, and I think it would be a mistake to try and do an impression,” Simard tells Billboard. She adds that a total re-imagining of the song was a necessity for the storytelling arc of the musical. “It is a real turning point in the show where we illustrate that fairytales are, in fact, dark. If that moment doesn’t work, the entire show doesn’t work. No pressure! But I think we did it,” she says. (You can watch the video above for proof of that.)
“We all realized early on that it was vitally important that ‘Toxic’ shows these two characters, Stepmother and Narrator, undergoing a complete transformation. Story-wise, it is a crucial turning point, as the Stepmother takes matters into her own hands and transforms Narrator into something – that by the end of the number – even she can’t control,” says Godley, who joins Simard during the mind-bending “Toxic” performance. “At the heart of it, of course, is Jennifer’s unmatched ability to sing the number in such an incredibly powerful, extraordinary, and unexpected way. “
“This is undeniably a huge hinge moment for the show. Narrative-wise. Energy-wise. It’s the ‘dark night of the soul’ and if we’re not delivering here, the rest of the story truly suffers,” Keone & Mari Madrid tell Billboard. “Jennifer and Adam helped us find such a delicate yet sensual dance of power that happens between their characters. They bring so much to the table – and are incredible humans, as much as they are artists. One example is Jennifer’s wild-siren-song-note at the end of the number. It was something she was keeping in her pocket, that we didn’t know she had, and when she brought it forward that moment really brought the number to a crescendo. That vocal absolutely nails everything home.”
You can check out Simard’s eyebrow-raising note beginning at the 3:15 time stamp. Be sure to catch Liv Battista’s eerie back bend at the 1:40 mark — keep in mind she’s doing that move eight times a week.
“All our company and our departments came through for this moment,” the directing-choreography duo tell Billboard. “And when all the elements are firing together, it’s really something.”
Once Upon a One More Time is currently running at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway in New York City.
