Gallery Players’ comic and progressive retelling of The Princess and the Pea will make you rethink your expectations of fairy tales.
Once Upon a Mattress is the story of the brave and strong Princess Winnifred who comes to the rescue of a kingdom in need of a new outlook on love, leadership, and life. Filled with hummable tunes, raucous comedy, fabulous dance numbers, and a happily-ever-after, this musical will appeal to audiences both young and old.
An inversion of the usual fairy tale plot, it is the sweet and sensitive Prince Dauntless who is waiting for a princess to rescue him and help him find true love. Meanwhile, the entire kingdom is subject to a law that keeps anyone from being wed until the prince marries. The realm is ruled by a fabulous but overbearing queen and a non-verbal king who are at odds as to what their son and (by extension) the kingdom truly needs.
Once Upon a Mattress premiered on Broadway in 1959 after its successful Off-Broadway run. Featuring the compositions of Mary Rodgers and starring Carol Burnett in her breakout role, this musical created one of the first well-known atypical princesses in popular culture
