Theatre producers in New York are set to launch a new musical about Jesus set to the tunes of Britney Spears.

Tracks including Stronger, (You Drive Me) Crazy and ...Baby One More Time are being used to score Spears The Musical: The Gospel According to Britney, which will detail the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Christian figurehead.

Show creator Pat Blute says, "These are Britney's lyrics. These are Jesus Christ's images. The Britney Spears you see is not Britney Spears. Remember that. The Jesus Christ you read is not Jesus Christ. These are manifestations. Accounts through the media, through the words of followers, of friends, of foes, of villains, of heroes, of liars, of biases.

"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."

The musical is set to be previewed for investors in the Big Apple on 7 November (13).

It's not the only odd news concerning Spears that has hit headlines this week (begs28Oct13) - security shipping crews accompanying supertankers off the coast of Africa have been using the Toxic hitmaker's music to scare off Somali pirates.

British Merchant Navy officer Rachel Owens, who guides ships through the dangerous seas, recently revealed, "As soon as the pirates get a blast of Britney they move on as quickly as they can. Her songs were chosen by security accompanying tankers because they thought the pirates would hate them most."