Once Upon a Mattress

Book:	Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer and Dean Fuller
Music:	Mary Rodgers
Lyrics:	Marshall Barer
Director:	Gerald Gutierrez
Choreographer:	Liza Gennaro
Sets:	John Lee Beatty
Costumes:	Jane Greenwood
Lighting:	Pat Collins
Sound:	Tom Morse
Musical Direction and Vocal Arrangements:	Eric Stern
Orchestrations:	Bruce Coughlin
Dance Arrangements:	Tom Fay
Music Coordinator:	John Miller
Wig and Hair Design:	Paul Huntley
Opened:	12/96 at the Broadhurst Theater
Cast:	Sarah Jessica Parker, Heath Lamberts, Jane Krakowski, Mary Lou Rosato, Lewis Cleale, Lawrence Clayton, Tom Alan Robbins, David Hibbard and David Aaron Baker

Once Upon a Mattress Joan Marcus

This once-upon-a-time farce follows poor Prince Dauntless (Baker), who's still a bachelor thanks to his overbearing mother, a shrew who insists that each of his potential brides-to-be pass an impossible gauntlet of tests (12 candidates have already failed). Parker is the intrepid and adorable Winifred who sleeps on a fantastic 20-layer bed as her climactic challenge in the pre-nuptial tryouts. The versatile actress lends her considerable musical talents to several peppy blues- and scat-inspired numbers, though her voice sometimes sounds more whiney than winsome. While the musical's Freudian overtones are slyly amusing, director Guttierez represses the vaudeville potential of the work, settling on a woefully repetitive score and flat choreography. Try as she might, Parker can't carry the show with her trademark pluck. For that kind of wish, Once Upon a Mattress just may require a fairy godmother.