{"id":84,"date":"2013-11-06T03:36:40","date_gmt":"2013-11-06T03:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/peanutsandpopcorn\/?p=84"},"modified":"2013-11-06T03:42:41","modified_gmt":"2013-11-06T03:42:41","slug":"gospel-according-to-britney-brilliant-or-blasphemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2013\/11\/gospel-according-to-britney-brilliant-or-blasphemy.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Gospel According to Britney\u2019 \u2013 Brilliant or Blasphemy?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Promotion<\/a>
Promotion for “SPEARS: The Gospel According to Britney.” (Photo: www.spearsthemusical.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In what sounds like a joke, the Foxwood Theater<\/a> in New York, home of \u201cSpiderman the Musical: Turn Off the Dark,\u201d will be hosting a special reading of a proposed new show, \u201cSPEARS: The Gospel According to Britney\u201d on Thursday, November 7, 2013. The \u201cSPEARS Team\u201d refers to the show as a \u201cBritney Spears and Jesus Christ Mash-Up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a recent press release<\/a> it was announced that \u201cSPEARS\u201d is an original production that chronicles the life of Jesus by telling the story with Britney Spears music and while this is new for most of us, the people behind the project have been at it for a while now.<\/p>\n

\u201cSPEARS\u201d is the brainchild of Patrick Blute with musical arrangements by Max Druz. The musical, which plays more like an opera, played at Columbia University\u2019s Glicker-Milstein Theater in April 2012. It is reported that the first show sold out in less than one minute. The Kickstarter<\/a> campaign for \u201cSPEAR\u201d described the show as \u201cgreatest story ever told\u201d with the \u201cgreatest music ever written.\u201d They not only met their goal of $4,000 but exceeded it by over $2000. This may not sound like your cup of tea, but, Charlotte Murtishaw of the Columbia Spectator<\/i> wrote, \u201cLittle can be done to deny the star power of \u2018SPEARS,\u2019 which manages to tackle the marriage of Spears and Christ in a way that respects both deities and keeps the audience fully engaged and entertained. The musical arrangements by Max Druz, CC \u201915, both preserved and adjusted each song to adapt to the tone of the story. The lyrics were effectively split among characters and created a cohesive, engaging story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reading will be directed by Michael Bello, and choreographed by Courtney Laine Self which raises some questions: When did we start referring to Britney as a deity and how do you put on a \u201creading\u201d when the show is a musical and has choreography?<\/p>\n

The rock opera is said to \u201ctug at the heartstrings of America\u2019s lost twenty-somethings\u201d and will feature such songs as, \u201cStronger,\u201d \u201cOne More Time,\u201d and \u201cCrazy,\u201d to describe the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While trying to wrap your mind around this concept, this isn\u2019t unlike \u201cGodspell\u201d or \u201cJesus Christ Superstar,\u201d two productions that also have been perceived as an outreach or blasphemy.<\/p>\n

Whether or not \u201cSPEARS\u201d will receive a wider audience, only time can tell. Meanwhile, the crew is\u00a0currently securing the copyright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In what sounds like a joke, the Foxwood Theater in New York, home of \u201cSpiderman the Musical: Turn Off the Dark,\u201d will be hosting a special reading of a proposed new show, \u201cSPEARS: The Gospel According to Britney\u201d on Thursday, November 7, 2013. The \u201cSPEARS Team\u201d refers to the show as a \u201cBritney Spears and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":558,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[66,65,71,73,68,74,70,69,72,67,64],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-britney-spears","tag-broadway","tag-foxwood-theater","tag-godspell","tag-jesus-christ","tag-jesus-christ-superstar","tag-max-druz","tag-patrick-blute","tag-rock-opera","tag-spears-the-gospel-according-to-britney","tag-theatre"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Gospel According to Britney\u2019 \u2013 Brilliant or Blasphemy? - Peanuts and Popcorn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2013\/11\/gospel-according-to-britney-brilliant-or-blasphemy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Gospel According to Britney\u2019 \u2013 Brilliant or Blasphemy? - Peanuts and Popcorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In what sounds like a joke, the Foxwood Theater in New York, home of \u201cSpiderman the Musical: Turn Off the Dark,\u201d will be hosting a special reading of a proposed new show, \u201cSPEARS: The Gospel According to Britney\u201d on Thursday, November 7, 2013. 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