Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – A perfectly cast Sutton Foster leads the spirited Encores! revival of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS at City Center

• By drediman
• January 25, 2024
• No Comments

Last night at New York City Center, the revered Encores! series opened its 2024 season with a bang with the opening of its highly anticipated revival of Once Upon a Mattress, the popular 1959 musical comedy based on “The Princess and the Pea” written by the team of Mary Rodgers (music), Marshall Barer (lyrics and book), Jay Thompson (book), and Dean Fuller (book). Headlined by Tony-winner Sutton Foster in the title role that made Carol Burnett a star, the production also features such stage luminaries as Harriet Harris, Cheyenne Jackson, Michael Urie, and J. Harrison Ghee. Together, they spin out a spirited revival that tickles and delights with its silly, easy charms.

Unlike the recent Encores! revivals of The Tap Dance Kid and The Life, Encores! artistic director Lear deBessonet thankfully keeps the tinkering with the source material to a minimum (the concert adaptation is credited to Amy Sherman-Palladino of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fame). Indeed, this is still the daffy musical we all know and love, misogynistic warts and all. This brings the focus to Rodgers and Barer’s breezily tuneful songs (among the score’s hits are “Many Moons Ago”, “Shy”, “Song of Love”), and boy do they shine. Under the baton of excellent music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell, the luxurious 25-plus member Encores! Orchestra sounded absolutely terrific, lovingly giving the score its full due (in my mind, one of the series’ chief mandates).

Like her previous directorial efforts, deBessonet’s staging – dutifully choreographed by Lorin Latarro – is simple and elegant, allowing her deluxe cast to fully take the reins. That they do so emphatically is particularly remarkable given the truncated rehearsal time allotted to these Encores! productions. Foster is perfectly cast as Princess Winnifred, giving a goofy, highly physical outing that’s at once in the mold of Carol Burnett’s legendary performance yet completely her own inspired concoction. As her befuddled princely love interest, Urie is utterly adorable, hilariously synching up with Foster’s shenanigans with instinctual glee. Suffice to say, Harris (Queen), Ghee (Jester), Jackson (Knight), and the rest of the very fine featured cast provide buoyant, idiosyncratic support.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS
Off-Broadway, Musical
New York City Center
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through February 4