Once Upon a Mattress

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As Princess Winnifred in the Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress, a transfer of the New York City Center Encores! production, Sutton Foster demonstrates that she just might be our greatest stage comedienne of physical comedy. Following in the shoes of Carol Burnett who created the role in this delightful Mary Rodgers musical in 1960 and then went on to recreate it in two television specials (1964 and 1972), Foster makes the role entirely her own with her exuberance, cheerfulness and brashness. Directed brilliantly by Lear deBessonet, artistic director of Encores!, she is backed by a company including returning actors Michael Urie, Nikki Renée Daniels, David Patrick Kelly and entirely dedicated to making this old-fashioned musical comedy a fun show.

Once a Upon a Mattress is a fractured fairy tale of the famous children’s story “The Princess and the Pea.” Narrated by the Jester (played by Daniel Breaker), it purports to be the true story, which translates to nothing you had heard before. The witty book by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller (adapted by Emmy Award-winner Amy Sherman-Palladino) sticks to the plot of the original fairy tale but embellishes it with a lot of low comedy which is both hilarious and pointedly satiric.

Prince Dauntless is of age and wants to marry but none of the royal princesses are up to his mother the Queen’s high standards. Unfortunately, it is a royal decree that no one else at court can get married until the prince is wed. When Princess Winnifred the Woebegone arrives as their last candidate, she must take a test like the others. The Queen and the Wizard together cook up a sensitivity test putting a single pea under a stack of mattresses to prove her royalty. When the princess is kept awake all night she is demonstrated to be a real princess and eligible to marry Prince Dauntless.

In this version Queen Aggravain, a selfish and egotistical monarch, rules alone without the help of her mute husband King Sextimus the Silent. Not wanting the prince to replace her and take away her power, she rejects every candidate as unsuitable with perfectly unfair challenges to the candidates. When Sir Harry discovers that his lady love Lady Larken is pregnant and needs to marry before she starts showing, he offers to go North to the swamps and bogs to find a princess. He returns with a diamond in the rough, the earthy Princess Winnifred who is so eager to be a candidate that she swims across the moat and arrives entirely bedraggled and covered with animals both small and large.

She, of course, had little education in refinement or manners and she is a fish out of water at court. However, Prince Dauntless (not much more educated than she) is immediately smitten with her boldness and joyousness, finding everything new and wonderful. How all conspire to make her acceptable along with a test of a pea under 20 mattresses is the plot of this light-hearted entertainment. With magic and illusion and the fast-paced “Spanish Panic” ballet, this is one show that is worth the price of a ticket.

Foster is a joy as the princess from the swamps who can swim, lift weights, dance all night, commit multiple contortions as she tries to get a good night sleep, and field any disaster that comes her way including the queen’s disdain. She is quick on her feet and in her tongue. She also stops the show with her rendition of the score’s most famous song “Shy” (used as the title to Mary Rodgers’ memoir published in 2022) but she is also memorable singing “The Swamps of Home” and “Happily Ever After,” with their witty lyrics by Barer, who often collaborated with Mary Rodgers. Is there anything she can’t do and anything she can’t make funny?

Urie is a close second with his deadpan delivery and hangdog looks. Although he has much less to sing than Foster, he holds his own in “Man to Man Talk” in which he sings both sides of the song with Kelly as his silent father pantomimes his half of a lesson in the facts of life. Urie’s delight in Sutton’s irrepressible Princess Fred as she wants to be called is highly infectious. Daniels as the lovely, level headed Lady Larken and Will Chase (replacing Cheyenne Jackson) as the handsome but dim Sir Harry make beautiful music together in the two lilting romantic ballads, “In a Little While” and “Yesterday I Loved You.” Chase is particularly marvelous with Sir Harry’s vanity including his newly won spurs.

Kelly remains delightful as the mute king who communicates in expressive sign language. Unfortunately Ana Gasteyer replacing the droll and ironic Harriet Harris as the domineering Queen Aggravain is shrill, querulous and irascible, missing the humor in the role of the know-it-all monarch. Brooks Ashmanskas as the Wizard (replacing Francis Jue) wryly does all of his tricks with panache and style. Daniel Breaker (replacing the more kinetic J. Harrison Ghee) as the Jester does have a show-stopping dance number by choreographer Lorin Latarro, “(In His) Very Soft Shoes,” in the second act, backed up by the male ensemble which makes up for his stiffness and introspection.

As at City Center, the now 17-piece orchestra conducted by Annbritt duChateau remains in full view of the audience on-stage behind David Zinn’s clever unit set with its checkered pennants and striped pillars as well as its low platform steps and suggestion of the castle walls. The single hued costumes by Andrea Hood are eye filling in a rainbow of shades while the lighting by Justin Townsend (new to the production) is arrayed in ever-changing candy box colors. J. Jared Janas also contributes greatly to the look of the show with his many wig and hair designs particularly for the disheveled Princess Winnifred. Kai Harada’s sound design is particularly memorable in putting the clever lyrics front and center.

In this age of juke box musicals and concept shows, no one writes old-fashioned musical comedies any more, and, boy, can we use its humor now. The New York City Encores!’ production of Once Upon a Mattress with its witty score and clever dialogue is just the bill. Director Lear deBessonet gives Sutton Foster the role of a lifetime and the star twinkles ever more brightly as she demonstrate the huge range of her her talent. Michael Urie is also becoming one of our finest comic actors. Once a Upon a Mattress leaves you with a smile on your face when you exit the theater and a song on your lips. When was the last time you could say that?

Ana Gasteyer as Queen Aggravain, Michael Urie as Prince Dauntless, Will Chase as Sir Harry and Nikki Renée Daniels as Lady Larken in a scene from the Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress” at the Hudson Theatre (Photo credit: Joan Marcus)

Once Upon a Mattress (through November 30, 2024)

New York City Center Encores! production

Hudson Theatre, 139-141 W. 44^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 855–801-5876 or visit http://www.thehudsonbroadway.com

Running time: two hours and 20 minutes including one intermission