Once Upon a Mattress

Mousetrap Theatre’s audience had a right royal time at Once Upon a Mattress. They laughed at Carmen Heath’s waspish Queen Aggravain, giggled at David Scheiwe’s mute and lascivious King Sextimus, and cheered for Fay Richards as the moat-swimming Princess Winifred, better known at Fred. They didn’t seem to mind that most of the cast couldn’t sing, that the piano accompaniment stumbled along, or that the Princess lost her place in “Happily Ever After” and forgot the lyrics.

A hit Off-Broadway when it opened in 1959 Once Upon a Mattress quickly moved to Broadway where it ran for 460 performances. It was the musical that made a star in the U.S. of Carol Burnett, (who repeated her performance twice for television), and a star in Australia of the late, great Gloria Dawn in 1960.

The book is still witty, and Mary Rodgers and Marshall Barer’s score is full of showstoppers, most of which did not stop the show yesterday. Heath’s Queen Aggravain was the star of the production. With a wicked glint in her eye she never missed a laugh but she did have difficulty with the tricky five-four rhythm of her big number “Sensitivity.” Scheiwe was a lanky and fun King, whilst Richards played Fred with an “ocker” Aussie accent and got the laughs. It was a broad comic performance. Peter Wright scored with “Very Soft Shoes,” Tom Burrell did likewise with “Many Moons Ago,” whilst the lovers Jordan Brunne (Lady Larkin) and Reagan Warner’s (Sir Harry) acting performances far outshone their vocal ability.

Hilary Warnett’s set-design was good, as were the costumes which looked appropriately regal.

After playing for two weeks Kurt A Lerp’s production still needed a massive adrenaline rush, but the undemanding audience didn’t seem to mind. They’d had a good time, a cup of tea and biscuit at interval, and despite my carping at the production’s shortcomings, were thoroughly entertained. Isn’t that what community theatre is all about?

Peter Pinne