Carol Burnett, who’s now 92, starred Off Broadway in 1959 in “Once Upon A Mattress.” Her performance as Princess Winifred, coupled with her regular appearances on “The Garry Moore Show,” made her a star.
Many years later in 1996, a pre-“Sex and the City” Sarah Jessica Parker acquitted herself very well on Broadway as the princess, who is also known as Fred.
Now Sutton Foster has taken on the role in a revival at the Hudson Theater. Winner of two Tony Awards, star of a TV series, most recently on Broadway as the prim Marian the Librarian in “The Music Man,” Foster is a living Broadway legend. Cadres of fans adore her, and won’t mind that at 49 she’s twice the age of previous Freds.
In “Younger,” her hit TV series, she was a 40 year old pretending to be 25, and it worked. Nothing has changed. As Princess Fred, Foster is such a pro she pulls it off. So does Michael Urie, 44 in real life, but a young prince who yearns to marry out of his parents’ — the king and queen’s — castle.
The songs are still by Mary Rodgers, daughter of Richard, full of rich melodies. But some things have changed: the book, all polished up and made very “Spamalot” like has been adapted by the great Amy Sherman Palladino of “Mrs. Maisel” and “Gilmore Girls” fame. Palladino has streamlined the story, put it in a logical order, and modernized it. (A couple is now pregnant without marriage. In the original they’d secretly wed.) If you recently saw
“Spamalot” you might think, for example, that Urie just moved over from that show in similar costume. The characters from each– dimwitted, coquettish –are not so different.
There are several other players who are highlights starting with Ana Gasteyer as the Queen. Gasteyer is a legacy player from “SNL.” so exceptionally talented but never found a post SNL path. She’s absolutely hilarious as the haughty queen,. complete with a sensational voice. The rest of the cast is top notch, and well known: Will Chase (who’s sort of the Lyle Waggoner for Burnett fans), Nikki Renee Daniels, John Patrick Kelly (who earlier stole (Into the Woods”), and Brooks Ashmanskas, and Daniel Breaker, — who I only know from “Billions” on TV, is a breakout star.
It takes about 30 minutes in Palladino’s version (and the terrific director Lear deBessonet) to get Foster out on stage. That’s how much she’s fleshed out the original, thin story. All the subsidiary characters now have back stories and quips galore. But in the end it’s all about Sutton Foster. She’s pulled from the best of Burnett nd Lucille Ball, including a scene that hearkens back to Lucy and the chocolate candies. But she’s updated their gifts so they blend with hers. Foster doesn’t have her signature tap dancing in this show, but her physicality is something we haven’t seen on Broadway in a long time. “Mattress” is supposed to be a limited run, but I’ll bet it goes on much longer.
And PS little kids and adults at my performance loved it equally.
