May 27, 28 June 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17 1990
Once Upon a Mattress is a grown-up retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Princess and the Pea. On Broadway it provided Carol Burnett's first starring role. Roger Westberg directed and Jim Fisher was the musical director.
The special twist in this version: it's not so much that the prince can't find a princess, but that his doting mother makes life miserable for each contender. Finally along comes Winifred (Chanetlle Wingerter), who is about as far from looking and acting like a princess as one could imagine. But Prince Dauntless (Bryan Stratton) likes her - after all, "She swam the moat!". Convincing Question Aggravain that "Fred," as she likes to be called, is a true princess is quite a task.
Princess Fred's costume had a full skirt which she could pull between her legs and tuck in her waistband so she could cartwheel across the stage.
The play called for a bed piled with 20 mattresses. The Players built a plywood box with quilt batting and fabric stapled to simulate the 20 mattresses. To keep it from sounding like the hollow box it was, they lined it with rugs and other padding.
The audience numbered 2,119 for the eight performances
