Development
The show was majorly inspired by Broadway musicals, primarily focused on Grand Hotel, which was directed by Tommy Tune and portrayed a day in the life of the Berlin Grand Hotel in 1928. Spears said the hotel theme was inspired by having traveled so much, and was merged with the onyx stone concept. The tour was described as a "unique, mysterious hotel powered by an onyx stone, where guests who enter shine their own light into the gemstone and make their fantasies come to life. It's a vibrant, whimsical place where wondrous dreams are realized, and the darkest of secrets are revealed". Spears also stated about the tour,
"I would love my audience to walk out of the auditorium feeling like they had the most magical experience of their life. The onyx stone is kind of symbolic of what guides me in my life, like there's a bigger picture in everything, and there's something that guides you where you need to go, from point A to point B".
Kevin Tancharoen was chosen as the tour director. He said about the development of the tour, "Coming from a movie lovers' background, I wanted to make it seem like a film. A little Joel Schumacher meets Tim Burton". He further explained that the onyx stone symbolized untapped desire. The stage was less elaborate than her previous tour, Dream Within a Dream Tour, with no runway extended towards the audience, in order to keep the show faithful to the New York theatre theme. There were three video screens above the stage. Also present were several LED columned-shaped video screens in the stage. The setlist was mostly composed from songs from In the Zone. Other songs included were "Boys," "I'm A Slave 4 U,"and "Overprotected" from Britney (2001). Also included were three of her early hits, "...Baby One More Time", (You Drive Me) Crazy and "Oops!... I Did It Again", reworked with elements of jazz and blues. The promotional photos for the tour were by Markus Klinko and Indrani. Tour promoter Clear Channel Entertainment marketed the tour to an entirely different demographic than her previous tours, changing from families and children to a more adult audience. The show was also targeted to the gay market. Promotional campaigns included were Flash animated e-mails targeted to two million people who fitted the audience description. The tour was also advertised in several radio stations and TV shows for those audiences, such as The O.C. MTV was chosen as the tour sponsor. The sponsorship was extended to advertisements in the tickets and interactive promotions in MTV.com, such as exclusive downloads, streaming video and ticket and merch auctions benefiting the Britney Spears Foundation. Three episodes of TRL were dedicated to a behind-the-scenes special. Vice president of music marketing and promotion Joe Armenia talked about the sponsorship,
"There are not that many artists that appeal to every territory with an MTV channel, but Britney Spears is one of the select few. We have been waiting for the opportunity to make a global splash, and the Britney tour is it. For the better part of the rest of the year, we’ll be on the road with Britney. This is more support than we’ve ever given an artist in the U.S., let alone all over the world. We love the association with Britney; she has always been a core part of this channel and our fans love Britney".
Read more about this topic: The Onyx Hotel Tour
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