ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

Only something beyond-special could get my superstitious self to leave the house on Friday the 13th. And the combination of Sutton Foster and the adorable classic musical Once Upon a Mattress is exactly that.

A pal called me early the morning after the show’s opening night at the Ahmanson, and asked, “Is it worth seeing?” I gave her a simple and definitive “Yes,” and that is what I say to all of you.

I do have a few small issues with some of it, but it’s a fun, happy show, and exactly perfect for these trepidatious times. The supporting cast is all excellent, but let’s face it, most of us are there to see Sutton Foster. When she’s off stage, Once Upon a Mattress is just a good, entertaining, light-hearted show. When Sutton is on stage, it’s exciting and electric; she’s a joy to behold!

Having adored her from the moment I saw her in The Drowsy Chaperone in 2005 at this same venue, I will happily see any show she’s in. (I really wish I could have seen her in the recent-ish The Music Man on Broadway, even though in it she got to be the love interest of my one remaining celebrity crush, the wonderful Hugh Jackman.) If Sutton ever does an evening featuring just raising her leg the height of a grown man’s shoulder to tap him on it, along with her famous one-armed cartwheels, (which she learned to do because of a wrist injury just prior to the opening of The Drowsy Chaperone back then,) I would be deliriously happy with that. We should all see every single thing this actress does, and Once Upon a Mattress is no exception. She’s one of those rare few who truly were born to be on a stage.

That brings me to my first little problem with this new rendition of the show. And that is that it takes soooo long for her to get out there! It seriously may be close to a half hour before Sutton makes her entrance! The original 1959 *staging had Princess Winifred, (whom Sutton plays,) show up just a few minutes into the presentation, and left the mucking around of the other characters until after her first exit. *(I know that because Mr. X and I watched that entire 1964 TV special of the original Broadway show on the computer the next day!) [Note: I had seen that taped version of the original Broadway show with Carol Burnett, a very long time ago. As a teenager, I became friends with someone who had been in it, and saw what I presume is a bootleg copy of the TV show. I always feel that I’ve seen it multiple times, but in actuality, it was just that once, decades ago. So I was shocked that I remembered just about all of it correctly when we watched it the other day.]

For those who don’t know, Once Upon a Mattress is a musical based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. (If you do not know that story, I’m sorry for your incomplete childhood.) The musical has always been witty and endearing, but this year, the producers added a bunch of modern references, which much of this opening night audience seemed to appreciate. I imagine that most of you have never seen the original, so comparing the two more than this would be a fool’s errand.

As Mr. X pointed-out, the first act is fabulous while the second one is not as much. When Act I was over, I was shocked to discover that it had been an hour and a half. It felt like just a third of that! It’s really fun and goes by pretty quickly once Sutton arrives, while Act II seems to labor on a bit.

As to the other performances, I love the singing voice of Ben Davis who plays the knight who brings Winnifred to the court. I wish he had sung even more. And I was impressed with the spryness of David Patrick Kelly as the elderly King. He does one move that made a few audience members wrongly assume he was a much younger man in mature make-up.

Sadly for Mr. X and me, for most of the show, we couldn’t understand Ana Gasteyer who plays the fast-talking evil Queen. We’re fans of hers, and always appreciate her big booming voice, so we were surprised that we couldn’t make-out most of her words in this show. I heard several others say the same thing at intermission.

But we all agreed that popular Michael Urie plays the man-child Prince perfectly. I gave him a great review when he did the one-man show Buyer and Cellar at the Mark Taper Forum, which I was shocked to discover was ten years ago! That boy has not aged a day!

Speaking of not aging, after the opening Mr. X asked me how old Sutton Foster is. I replied that, by how long I’ve been seeing her in shows, she must be forty-two, even though she looks and performs like she’s in her twenties! I really could not imagine that she’s any older than thirty-six. Believe me on this, I know that we’re not supposed to mention the ages of people in show business. (Or of women in any walk of life!!!) But I’m compelled to in this case. And that’s because in just three months, Ms. Foster is going to be…fifty! Fifty years old! That boggles my mind. She is truly age-defying. And trust me, not only did I have good seats for this show, but I was, as always, working my binoculars. Besides that I could not find a wrinkle on her face, that girl is beyond agile. There’s not an ounce of fat on her body, and she’s moving around and doing cartwheels like she’s a young teenager! I just can’t believe any of her abilities, and especially at her age. She should be congratulating herself every day!

As far as the music goes, I adore the songs in Once Upon a Mattress! They’re cute, clever, and lovely. Shy is my fave, but they all have something to recommend them.

I found the placement of the orchestra, which is high up on the back of the stage, and mostly visible, to be interesting during the overture, but a tad distracting during the course of the show. (Once Sutton finally showed-up, though, I pretty much forgot about them, and also about some of the rude audience behavior that had been bothering me up until then, such as the woman with a tall chopstick sticking straight up from her hair, and the man next to me who had his gigantic sneakered foot sticking up on the back of the seat in front of me for the entire first act!)

This next part is no biggie; I’m mentioning it just to be thorough. And that is that I’m not a fan of the look of the show. The set appeared to be closer to a regional production than a Broadway one. I don’t know how they made the Ahmanson stage look so intimate and close, but I’m assuming that choice is most likely because that’s how the set fit in the Broadway house where it just ran. I know the show is billed as coming “Direct From Broadway,” where it had closed just ten days prior to transferring here to Los Angeles, so I’m assuming the entire production came right as designed for that stage.

A head-scratcher, as slight as this issue is, is that in one scene in the castle, there are banners that feature images of a pretzel, a rat, a taxi, a cockroach, and a few other anomalies. Why?

And I really did not enjoy the costumes at all. They look like not only did someone’s mother make them, but actually my mother! You know how much I love my little mo, but home economics chores were not her strong suit; she was too busy being the most popular high school English teacher. Here’s an example—in sixth grade, my class was in a borough-wide dance festival, so all the mothers had to sew the costumes. And when the Class Mother saw what my mother had put together, she kindly helped me sew my own costume. (Believe me, I’m not ragging on my mother at all—I’m actually laughing recounting that story. And I still have the blouse of my schottische dance outfit that I made by hand!)

Outside of the costumes and set, the bottom line is that Once Upon a Mattress is a charming musical, which is definitely worth seeing, while you have this brief opportunity in SoCal. Witnessing Sutton Foster work is truly a privilege. So, if you do only one fun event this holiday season, this should be it. And what a perfect gift tickets to the show would be!

And here’s something that can be an amusing part of the experience: On opening night, many people were rocking pajamas and robes and slippers and even night masks! I was sick when I realized that Mr. X and I could have done that, but I didn’t know that’s a thing for this show. So I suggest you all go for it. Just perhaps not your oldest ones with holes!

Once Upon a Mattress running through January 5, 2025

Ahmanson Theatre  135 N. Grand Avenue
213-972-4400 www.centertheatregroup.org