LOS ANGELES — There is nothing shy about Sutton Foster’s performance in Once Upon a Mattress — a role that seems tailormade for the triple threat and natural comedienne. Even she admits she’s got a lot in common with her character, Princess Winnifred.
“I share her curiosity and her out-of-the-box thinking, I guess,” the two time Tony winner said, “And her sense of humor.”
Foster was last seen on stage at the Ahmanson in The Drowsy Chaperone in 2005 — before the production went to Broadway. Now nearly 20 years later, she’s making the opposite trip — arriving in LA with a show that comes directly from NY with most of the original cast intact, including Saturday Night Live alum Ana Gasteyer.
“It's so unusual for a show, even if it's coming from New York, to have the original Broadway cast,” she said.
The sets, the costumes, all of it is a direct transfer and LA is the only stop. It’s an incredibly rare model and one actor, Michael Urie, said is a treat for the audience and the cast as well, who didn’t have to say goodbye after their limited Broadway run.
“This is sort of like our encore,” he said. “We just had a great run on Broadway for five months, and now we're going to come here, and we're going to give you four weeks of the best we've got.”
Of course, the LA theater scene is nothing to sleep on — with local productions that shine just as brightly as the lights of Broadway, but right now, there seems to be an extra twinkle. La Cage au Folles at Pasadena Playhouse was packed with Broadway veterans, including Cheyenne Jackson, Kevin Cahoun and George Salazar. In February, the Ahmanson will be visited once again by theater royalty with Tony winners Lea Salonga and Bernadette Peters headlining Stephen Sondheim's "Old Friends" — before it heads to New York. And with the "Wicked" tour playing at the Pantages and the film defying box office records, Gasteyer, who took a turn playing Elphaba, said there’s a little bit of Broadway sparkle everywhere and that’s a good thing.
“I think people are enjoying the kind of relief traditional musicals,” she said. “I'm grateful for what theater does for community. I think that our role is changing as people continue to need to find places to experience humanity together. And I know that's really corny, but, look, we're in a nice old fashioned musical. People just feel happy when they see our show.”
"Once Upon a Mattress" is based on the story of the Princess and the Pea and it is indeed a good old-fashioned musical, with a lush score by Mary Rodgers. It was the legendary Carol Burnett who originated the role of Princess Winnifred on stage and later in not one but two television specials. This production began at City Center Encores before moving to Broadway and while Urie said many people may know the musical due to its popularity in high schools and community theaters, Los Angeles hasn’t had a major revival of this show in years. Still, the actor who plays Prince Dauntless said this production doesn’t feel its age.
“We got a glow up from Amy Sherman-Palladino,” he said, “so the script is zippy and hilarious and wonderful.”
Sherman-Palladino created "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" as well as the show "Bunheads," which Foster starred in. In fact, it was the actress who texted the writer to see if she’d be interested in working on the "Mattress" script.
“She honored the original production from 1959 and … her touch is very light throughout,” Foster said. “She's one of the funniest people I know.”
Foster has absolutely delighted in living this fairy tale that she says revolves around themes that are still relevant 65 years later with a character that she describes a princess her own young daughter can get behind.
“A woman who is unusual, outspoken, fearless, and is unabashedly silly and confident,” Foster explained. “For me, selfishly, I have a 7-year-old daughter and so there are themes that I'm proud to be able to show her about how to be yourself and that you don't have to change to be accepted or loved. You can just be exactly who you are and that’s even better.”
Some genuine, certified good advice delivered straight from Midtown Manhattan to downtown LA.