Tired of Dickens’ “Christmas Carol” or want something different from “The Nutcracker” to enliven your holidays? Dress up in your best pajamas or get out your tiara and go all out princess mode to see Sutton Foster’s Princess Winnefred and Michael Urie’s Prince Dauntless struggle to find matrimonial bliss under Ana Gasteyer’s strident Queen Aggravain in the straight-from-Broadway production of “Once Upon a Mattress” at the Ahmanson.
You’ve probably heard of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, “The Princess and the Pea,” but this 1959 musical comedy purports to be the true story behind the tale.
Our narrator, the jester (Daniel Breaker) is here to reveal the true story that he himself witnessed (“Many Moons Ago”). In this fictional kingdom, King Sextimus the Silent (David Patrick Kelly) has been cursed by a witch and cannot speak until “the mouse devours the hawk.” His wife, Queen Aggravain (Ana Gasteyer), dotes on her only child, Prince Dauntless (Michael Urie), but both the prince and his mute father are totally dominated by the queen who has devised unfair tests for each princess presents herself as a potential wife for the prince (“An Opening for a Princess”). Yet not only is the prince frustrated, but so too all of the people in the kingdom because the queen has imposed a law: “Throughout the land no one may wed, ’till Dauntless shares his wedding bed.”
Yet exceedingly vain Sir Harry (Ben Davis) needs to marry Lady Larken (Oyoyo Joe) because she’s pregnant. Unless they are married, the child’s birth will create such a scandal that Sir Harry will lose his position in court. After the rejection of princess number 12, Harry, with the reluctant blessing of the queen, sets out to find a princess (“In a Little While”)..
The princess he find, Winnifred the Woebegone (two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster) or”Fred,” is from the Marshlands and in her eagerness to meet her possible prince husband, swims the moat, beating Harry back to the court. There she reveals that she’s really shy (“Shy”).
The queen with the wizard (Kevin del Aguila) plot a new test, the pea and twenty mattresses. The king, Larken, Harry and the Jester plot to help Fred while the queen and the wizard attempt to do everything to insure she fails.
There will, of course, be a happy ending.
While Burnett’s portrayal of Fred was filled with her big-boned, gawky gestures and physical comedy. Foster’s Fred is more a light-footed, short-haired tomboy, taking full advantage of her dancerly flexibility. There are moments when fans of “I Love Lucy” will flashback to a certain famous scene.
You might remember Urie from the ABC dramedy telenovela “Ugly Betty,” where he played the assistant to the scheming Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams). Here, he’s a babied man-child, struggling to wrest himself from his mother’s grasp. His blossoming love for Fred is filled with a sweet charm and a fresh breath of freedom. While Gasteyer’s queen is never truly evil, she’s a force to be reckoned with, from her posture, to her every gesture to her blaring voice.
On Broadway, Mary Rodgers (music) and Marshall Barer (lyrics) supplied the music while Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller and Barer did the book. The show (directed by George Abbott and choreographed by Joe Layton) opened as the Broadway debut of comedian Carol Burnett as the titular princess. If you check around YouTube, you can find her performance from the two television adaptations.
The black and white adaptations included Burnett as well as Joseph Bova (Prince Dauntless), Jack Gilford (King Sextimus), and Jane White (Queen Aggravain) from the original Broadway cast. The 1972 adaptation was in color and also included Burnett, Gilford and White, but Ken Berry played Prince Dauntless.
In 2005, Burnett returned to TV with an adaptation that was aired as part of “The Wonderful World of Disney.” This time, she played the queen with Tom Smothers are her king. Tracey Ullman was Princess Winnifred. Denis O’Hare was Prince Dauntless. You can see a quick comparison of Foster, Burnett and Ullman at the end of this essay.
This production at the Ahmanson is an adaptation by Amy Sherman-Palladino (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) that includes some modern and local references. Under the direction of Tony-nominated Lear deBessonet and the choreography by Lorin Latarro with costume design by Andrea Hood, this is a colorful bundle of joy and love. A relaxing acceptance of how our differences can bring a change for the better, but this isn’t a deep or serious show and (due to its length) a great show for older kids (six years old and up).
Dress up and be ready to enjoy some slapstick physical comedy set to pleasant score. DTLA also has a holiday scavenger hunt where you’ll need to visit ten out of six locations to find the peas to enter and possibly win a grand prize that includes a custom merchandise bundle and a signed program.
“Once Upon a Mattress” continues until 5 January 2025. The performance runs 2 hours and 25 minutes with one 15-minute intermission. Tickets start at $51.75. For tickets and more information, please visit CenterGroupTheatre.org.
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