Musical uses Britney songs to tell story of Jesus
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Singer Britney Spears. Photo: AFP
Source: AFP
“THE greatest story ever told to the greatest music ever written.”
That’s one way to describe the musical SPEARS, which tells the story of Jesus Christ through the music of pop star Britney Spears.
The unusual idea was hatched by 23-year-old Patrick Blute, who developed the show and debuted it in front of a college crowd last year. He’s pretty philosophical about the musical’s meaning.
“These are Britney’s lyrics. These are Jesus Christ’s images,” Mr Blute says. “The Britney Spears you see is not Britney Spears. Remember that. The Jesus Christ you read is not Jesus Christ.”
Mr Blute thinks popular impressions of Jesus and Britney are “manifestations” that result from “accounts through the media, through the words of followers, of friends, of foes, of villains, of heroes, of liars, of biases.”
That message seems a bit complex, but the overall moral of SPEARS is easier to understand.
“It’s a falsehood that people believe fame and fortune create happiness. That all ‘deaths’ receive a resurrection. I hope this project will show you otherwise through the power of listening and the power of forgiveness,” Mr Blute says.
While Britney Spears wouldn’t appear to have much in common with Christianity’s saviour, Mr Blute says the musical should appeal to both the pious and the pop-obsessed.
“It appeals to those from a religious background because it tells an essential story using fragments of pop culture in a non-offensive way,” he says.
“The musical tugs at the heartstrings of America’s lost twenty-somethings, calling on familiar hits such as Stronger, One More Time and Crazy.”
SPEARS still needs financial backers, so the show is holding a funder’s preview in New York on November 7. It should be interesting.
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