synopsis
This once-upon-a-time farce was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA. Carried on a wave of wonderful songs, which turn from hilarious and raucous to romantic and melodic, this rollicking spin on the familiar classic tale of royal courtship and comeuppance provides for some sidesplitting shenanigans with a cast full of crazy, wacky, fun characters.
In a small kingdom during medieval times, King Sextimus (Gregg Vigil) is unable to speak, due to an unhappy curse placed on him by his wife, Queen Aggravain (Tara Cowan), who has taken over control of the land. In an attempt to keep her son, Prince Dauntless (Jeremy Palmer) single, the queen has decreed that only the princess who can pass her test may marry her son. (Twelve princesses have already failed as the play opens.) Furthermore, no one else in the kingdom may marry until the prince does. This edict presents a problem for Lady Larken (Ali Zimmerman) and Sir Harry (Stephen Hahn), who are unmarried and expecting a child. Sir Harry hurries off to find a princess to pass the test and returns with Princess Winnifred, who instantly attracts the attention of Prince Dauntless and in the end is able to pass the queen’s supposedly impossible sensitivity test, which includes a full night’s rest on a stack of twenty mattresses atop a pea.
ONCE UPON A MATTRESS was originally written by Mary Rodgers (daughter of Richard Rodgers) and Marshall Barer as part of an adult summer camp. The full-length musical version opened off-Broadway in 1959 with Carol Burnett playing Princess Winnifred, a role that is said to have launched her comedic career. The show was revived on Broadway in 1996 with Sarah Jessica Parker playing the lead.
Director Steve Wilson plans to reinvent the notion of fairy tales with PHAMALy’s production of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS.
“I hope we’ll be able to get audiences to rethink their long-time notions of fairy tales,” Wilson said. “Who’s to say that Cinderella wasn’t in a wheel chair? Or that Prince Charming didn’t have spina bifida?”
One of the unique and exciting technical components of PHAMALy’s production is the use of wheelchairs. The king, queen and knight are all played by actors in wheelchairs. Their sets and props will be incorporated into these devices. The king and queen’s thrones are built on their wheelchairs and will travel with them as they traverse the stage. The knight’s horse will be part of her chair, making for a knight like no audience has ever seen before.
ONCE UPON A MATTRESS is presented with the support of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District; the Colorado Council on the Arts; the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado; City of Denver’s Office of Art, Culture and Film, Wellington E. Webb, Mayor and Starz Encore. Media sponsorship for this production is provided by The Denver Post.