From the moment that Sutton Foster catapulted to fame in her Tony Award-winning breakout performance in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” it was obvious that the actress (with her big belting voice, comic ingenuity, and sense of fervor) would be the ideal candidate to play Princess Winnifred in the 1959 musical comedy “Once Upon a Mattress.”
It took over two decades, but Foster is now finally playing Winnifred in a Broadway revival of “Mattress” based on an Encores! production at City Center from earlier this year. As expected, Foster is sublime, and the production is a tuneful, old-fashioned, flamboyant, altogether blissful romp.
Foster is joined by a strong supporting cast that includes some holdovers from City Center (Michael Urie as Prince Dauntless, Nikki Renée Daniels as Lady Larkin, David Patrick Kelly as the mute King Sextimus) and newcomers (Daniel Breaker as the Jester, Will Chase as Sir Harry, Brooks Ashmanskas as the Wizard, Ana Gasteyer as Queen Aggravain).
“Once Upon a Mattress” is a one-of-a-kind amalgamation of golden age musical comedy, fairy tale and burlesque loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea, in which a princess must prove herself worthy of a prince by being able to sense a pea left under twenty mattresses. (The classic, sanitized version of the fairy tale is represented in the opening number.)
The musical first premiered as a short, silly piece of evening entertainment for guests at Camp Tamiment, a Poconos resort where future stars such as Neil Simon, Woody Allen, and Jerome Robbins worked early on in their careers. Its composer was Mary Rodgers, the daughter of Richard Rodgers (who was still writing with Oscar Hammerstein at the time). When the musical transferred to New York, an unknown Carol Burnett took over as Winnifred.
While “Once Upon a Mattress” has been a favorite among high school theater clubs for decades (FYI, I did it myself in high school), it resists professional revivals because it calls for a one-of-a-kind, unafraid comedienne with star quality. Sarah Jessica Parker was unable to pull off the role in a short-lived 1997 Broadway revival, as Rodgers herself admitted in “Shy,” her sharp, posthumously published memoir.
The Broadway revival, which is directed by Lear deBessonet (“Into the Woods”), is relatively faithful to the original musical – though TV writer Amy Sherman-Palladino’s (“Gilmore Girls,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) adaptation of the book unnecessarily adds self-referential winks and gross-out humor and also cut a supporting character and a song. The orchestrations have been cut down since City Center, but are still large enough to justify performing the overture (which sounds terrific). Visually, the production has not changed since City Center, with a bare set design to suggest a castle interior and Disney fairy tale-style costumes.
Foster seizes each moment as Winnifred and goes further than you would think, whether it is her Ethel Merman-like, powerhouse vocals during “Shy,” physical comedy bits while high atop the 20 mattresses, or her altogether rough appearance and rowdy disposition.
Urie, an inspired comic himself, makes for an endearing weirdo and an ideal match for Foster. Daniels makes a point of injecting Larkin, who was written as a simple damsel in distress, with a more forceful personality. An unlikely standout of the supporting cast is Breaker, who (along with the ensemble) turns the second act soft shoe number “Very Soft Shoes” from mild diversion to genuine showstopper.
Hudson Theatre, 141 W. 44th St., onceuponamattressnyc.com.
