'Once Upon a Mattress' review — a tale fit for Sutton Foster, the princess of Broadway
Read our review of Once Upon a Mattress on Broadway, starring Sutton Foster and Michael Urie and featuring a newly adapted script by Amy Sherman-Palladino.
New York City Center’s winter production of Once Upon a Mattress, now running on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre, is mostly a vehicle for leading lady Sutton Foster. This is in part due to the star power of the two-time Tony Award winner, who has entered a stage of her career where she can play any part she wants and Broadway agrees — and she is not miscast here. The down-to-earth, winsome, and sweet Princess Winnifred is a perfect fit not only for Foster’s voice and physical prowess, but for her trademark goofiness as well. Foster’s energy, however, is not enough to sustain a whole show.
The revival of Mattress highlights the musical’s structural issues, which are left unaddressed both by the direction of Lear deBessonet and by script adapter Amy Sherman-Palladino (working from the original by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer, and Dean Fuller). Sherman-Palladino’s updates don’t tackle the placement of the act break or the abrupt ending that leaves the main characters unfulfilled; she mostly puts awkward retorts in the characters’ mouths. Daniel Breaker’s Jester calls the castle “sus” and responds to the Queen’s (Ana Gasteyer) rudeness with “Who hurt you?”, like a parent trying to catch up with their teenager’s slang.
While numbers like “Shy” and “Song of Love” are memorable because of their musical specificity and lyrical whimsy, others remain head-scratchingly forgettable. Foster carries Mattress just as Carol Burnett did in 1959, but the feat may now be too weighty.
Once Upon a Mattress summary
In a retelling of “The Princess and the Pea,” a far-away kingdom struggles against a marriage ban. Queen Aggravain won’t permit anyone to marry until her grown-ish son, Prince Dauntless (Michael Urie), marries a suitable princess. She also happens to reject every eligible princess through a series of elaborate royalty tests, leaving the kingdom’s residents sexually and romantically frustrated.
When Lady Larken (the crystal-voiced Nikki Renée Daniels) finds herself pregnant, she convinces her knight and beau, Sir Harry (Will Chase), to venture out in search of a royal bachelorette for Dauntless so the couple can wed before anyone notices her condition.
Sir Harry returns with Princess Winnifred, a noblewoman of the swamp whose freewheeling displays of strength clash with the Queen’s image of feminine propriety. While the Queen devises another elaborate royalty test – the one with 20 downy mattresses and one lousy pea – the townspeople dare to uncover it before yet another match is doomed.
What to expect at Once Upon a Mattress
Once Upon a Mattress runs 2 hours plus a 15-minute intermission. While the characters allude to sexual scenarios (including an interpretative number about “the talk,” which sees Dauntless decoding the gestures of his mute father, played by David Patrick Kelly), the show is generally appropriate for children and families. If you sit in the front orchestra, you may find yourself catching props that actors throw into the audience – or find that you’re in a bit of splash zone.
What audiences are saying about Once Upon a Mattress
Once Upon a Mattress has an audience approval rating of 86% on the review aggregator Show-Score.
- One Show-Score user said Once Upon A Mattress lets the audience “marvel at Sutton Foster and a wonderful cast that surrounds her.
- Another user said the musical serves as a good introduction to Broadway for younger theatregoers: “I took my six year old and we had a blast!”
- One user on the theatre social media app Mezzanine wished scenic designer David Zinn had developed the set more to differentiate it from the bare-bones New York City Center production.
Read more audience reviews of Once Upon a Mattress on Show-Score.
Who should see Once Upon a Mattress
- Fans of Sutton Foster will revel in seeing her tackle a role she was born to play. Come for the physical comedy, stay for the Shrek the Musical cast reunion between her and Daniel Breaker!
- If you missed the revival’s short run at NYCC, the Broadway production will run through November.
- Musical theatre buffs will delight in seeing the best-known gem of composer Mary Rodgers, whose father was the famous composer Richard Rodgers.
Learn more about Once Upon a Mattress on Broadway
Despite the best efforts of Sutton Foster and the talented ensemble, Once Upon a Mattress still struggles to stay firm.
Photo credit: Once Upon a Mattress on Broadway. (Photos by Joan Marcus)
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