‘Once Upon a Mattress’ @ Stage West
Photos by Evan Michael Woods
—Jan Farrington
Bravo, Bravissimo!
Yes, it’s a line swiped from one of the song lyrics in Once Upon a Mattress—but it fits so, so well.
Stage West opens their 45th (!) season with an adorable and imaginative Fractured Fairy Tale—the 1959 musical that made young Carol Burnett a star. And their production, a collaboration with Theatre TCU, will put a grin on your face that might start to hurt after a while.
It is, as a friend said, “a piece of fluff.” But what a wonderful piece of fluff, with characters you'll not forget: Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, Queen Aggravain, Prince Dauntless the Drab (who livens up a lot once “Fred” swims over to meet him).
With music written by Mary Rodgers (daughter of Richard Rodgers, mother of Light in the Piazza composer Adam Guettel) and lyrics/book from Marshall Barer et al., Once Upon a Mattress started life as a fun piece composed for the performers at a summer place (Camp Tamiment) in Pennsylvania that drew lots of NYC theater folk in the 1930s, 40s, 50s and onward. (Danny Kaye, Imogene Coca, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Jerry Rabinowitz/aka Jerome Robbins, Fred Ebb and many others spent time at the camp.) And once in a while, a few of the Tamiment shows ended up on (or near) Broadway.
At Stage West, director Garret Storms and his team have cleverly given this production a fun framework: the fairy story is played by the 50s-era students and staff of Peabody High School. That gives set designer Brian Clinnin the fun of creating a vintage school/library setting with elements (stained glass, pennants, etc.) that work for a castle too. Costume designer Henry Cawood makes two sets of everything: one outfit for the high school kids and staff (tons of fun ‘50s details) and another to wear (often on top of the modern clothing) as the fairy-tale knights, ladies, jesters and all.
The mix of professional actors and students (plus some recent alums) from TCU’s theater program maximizes the energy and quality of the ensemble. Choreographer Amber Marie Flores (a TCU grad) needs a round of applause all her own for her ingenious blend of old and new “moves.” The cast clearly has fun with the dances, even when the ever-faster “Spanish Panic” leaves them breathless. Music direction is by Aimee Hurst Bozarth, who gets both tunefulness and clarity from her singers (the clever lyrics are important to the story).
The plot, of course, is a take on “The Princess and the Pea.” A prince needs a bride, and his strong-willed mother (who doesn’t really want him to marry) devises a test and invites surrounding kingdoms to send a “genuine” princess to give it a go. All fail (the test is different each time, and full of tricky/impossible questions), the prince is depressed. And then….
A pleasantly tuneful Minstrel (Sam Majors) begins the story with “Many moons ago….” and returns now and again when we need a bit of narration. One of the plot’s complications is that as long as Dauntless stays single, nobody else in the kingdom can marry. (Sez the Queen.) Thus, a secondary couple, Sir Harry (Caden Large), the bravest knight in the palace, and his slightly-preggers beloved, Lady Larken (Mia Dorsett). They have a pretty duet (“In a Little While”), but can’t really take their sweet time getting hitched. Sir Harry takes the reins, and gallops off to look for an emergency princess.
Savannah DeCrow seems born for the part of the not-at-all “Shy” Princess Fred. She’s blessed with a big voice that can dip into a near-yodel (comic singing isn’t a gift given to many), and a bouncy way of moving onstage that somehow says “tough chick with a heart of milk chocolate.” She’s so impatient to reach the sweet but timid Prince Dauntless (Andrew Meier) that she outruns Sir Harry and his horse, swims the castle moat, and comes in dripping wet. This can’t possibly be a royal person, says the roaring Queen Aggravain (Sarah Gay), who vows to head Fred off with the help of a Wizard (Michael Phillip Thomas). That leaves mute King Sextimus (Marianne Galloway) quite chagrined; he’s liked Fred right from the start but can’t say so, being under a curse of silence. Things happen in fairy tales—even a spontaneous outbreak of soft-shoe dancing from a Jester (Logan Lowery).
And that’s absolutely all the plot you’re getting. There’s a song called “Happily Ever After”—but I’m making no promises. Once Upon a Mattress is a must-see (and tickets are flying out the door), especially if you’re a mid-century musicals buff, a fairy-tale fan, or just a human being with a ticklish funny bone.
I’ll say it again: “Bravo, bravissimo!”
WHEN: October 19-November 5, 2023
WHERE: Stage West, 821 W. Vickery, Fort Worth TX
WEB: stagewest.org
