Oscar E Moore

O woe is me!  Well…here goes.

A mild mannered, mediocre, meandering musical.  Music by Mary Rodgers (daughter of Richard Rogers; mother of Adam Guettel – great musical genes inherited and shared.  Original 1959 book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller and Marshall Barer (Lyrics as well) and newly adapted by Amy Sherman Palladino.  The resulting goulash on stage at the Hudson Theatre 140 West 44 Street is perhaps a case of too many cooks.

Nonetheless, a welcome diversion for folks starved for something to laugh at.  To be entertained.  No matter what.  A diversion from all that is horrible plaguing the world today is being offered courtesy of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Princess and the Pea and a boatload of zany clowns from comic central in Encores! Production ONCE UPON A MATTRESS.  A little of this and a lot of that.

THAT being everything imaginable (“but the kitchen sink” – an archaic expression) being stuffed into what was a small charming musical by its new visionaries, director Lear de Bessonet and choreographer Lorin Latarro in an attempt to make MATTRESS more palatable, updated and fresh for a new younger Tik! Tok! audience and to tickle our funny bones with puppets, sight gags, and simple magical tricks that are not altogether successful but will sell lots of tickets – they ate is all up at the performance I attended.

And so the latest Encores! Production with its tried and true recipe for showcasing forgotten musicals with STARS has migrated to Broadway.  But what was once a tried and true formula is now a bit tired.

And speaking of stars.  The main reason for seeing MATTRESS is a hardworking, over-the-top Sutton Foster.  A versatile singer, dancer, actor, contortionist extraordinaire who will do anything asked of her.  And she does including an unforgettable scene eating, no stuffing her face with grapes to the extent that she must spit them all out or choke to death pits and all into the front row of the audience.  Not a nice image to be remembered for.

But this one is.  Her entrance about twenty minutes into the sluggish first act as she emerges from the swampy waters of the moat, muddy and bedraggled with a fright wig to end all fright wigs, to great cheering and applause that is a show stopper as well as a show starter.  Everything suddenly perks up and we are off and running.

But it’s an up and down affair as subplots and limp dialogue await her return.

Now the real reason I wanted to see this MATTRESS was that in 1966 I was Dauntless the role now played by Michael Urie in a summer stock production that I remember fondly.  I admire Mr. Urie and he does a fine job but the overall production left me disappointed.  Didn’t cut the mustard (another archaic expression) so to speak.

The orchestra on stage was distracting.  The on-the-cheap-looking costumes (Andrea Wood) tend to be garish attempting to bridge the gap between medieval and modern and only add to the confusion of where we are and when.

The narrator/Jester Daniel Breaker is fine and does a wonderful Soft Shoe number.  Queen Aggravain doing her best in a very annoying role and looking to emulate Meryl Streep finally gets her comeuppance. The King is mute.  Done in by a magic spell.  Sextimus the Silent (David Patrick Kelly) is the only character, the only character I cared for.  Most believable and honest.  The less said about the Wizard (Brooks Ashmanskas) the better.  His fey routine becomes tiresome.  Sir Harry (Will Chase) and Lady Larken (Nikki Renee Daniels – reminding me of Kathleen Battle) as the romantic leads are vocal winners.

Could LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE be next on the horizon?

2 hours 15 minutes One Intermission

CLOSING NOV 30 2024

PHOTOS:  Joan Marcus

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