[NEohioPAL]Beacon Journal review for Western Reserve Playhouse's Once Upon A Mattress

[Marie Dusini]

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Thougth that you would like to see this!
  Marie Dusini  -- 330-836-2552
   
  Posted   Sat. July 22, 2006
   
  REVIEW
  No napping at `Mattress'  Western Reserve's wacky musical will make kids giggle, adults laugh, though at different aspects  A rowdy, irreverent fairy tale comes to life on the Western Reserve Playhouse stage with the musical comedy Once Upon A Mattress.
  The show takes the traditional fairy tale The Princess and the Pea and turns it on its head. The story is set in medieval times, but this musical tale has a modern sensibility.
  Here, you have a mute, lech of a king, a cad of a knight, a wizard with a showbiz resume who competes with the jester, and a heroine who's anything but a girlie girl. Have you ever seen a princess who not only snores, but also can outlift her man when it comes to heavy weights?
  In fact, Princess Winnifred (Fred for short) just may be the spunkiest fairy-tale feminist I can think of. Boston College student Deana Stein is a bright talent as this tomboy who comes from the swamplands and has oodles of confidence.
  Fred's sure she'll outsmart the manipulative, control-freak Queen Aggravain to win the ultimate test to prove she's worthy of marrying Prince Dauntless. Sir Harry (Stephen Noreck) and Lady Larken (Laura Wilson) have a big motive for wanting Prince Dauntless to be married off: No one else in the kingdom may marry before he does.
  OK, so why would an independent-minded princess care about winning the hand of the nerdball Prince Dauntless (Joseph Saks)? In Fred's solo Happily Ever After, even as she picks at other famous princesses who had some help achieving their ultimate goal of wedded bliss, she vamps it up to reveal ``I want some happily ever after to happen to me.''
  What could be more fun than gathering a cast of 22 -- most of whom are high schoolers and young adults -- to put on a wacky summer musical? Director Mark Zimmerman of Firestone High School has succeeded in fully engaging his cast in this broad comedy, which will have young children giggling plenty and adults laughing on a whole other level (including at some of the sexual suggestiveness).
  The solo singing talent runs the gamut in this show, but Stein is always a joy to hear and watch. Fig Jankowski as the jester also sings well and hams it up nicely in his vaudeville-style number Very Soft Shoes.
  The vocal ensemble work is good, especially in the cute number Opening for a Princess. Here, in another of the many showbiz references in this musical, the lords and ladies sing about how women are basically auditioning for the role of the prince's wife.
  Even when ensemble member Jon Baley fell off the stage early in the show Thursday, he recovered nicely, and the mishap added to the show's general hilarity. Soon after that moment, Saks was doing his own pratfall as Prince Dauntless. His hunched-over, morose, brow-beaten Dauntless reminds one of the dog Droopy.
  The sheer incongruity in size between the incredibly tall, bony Saks and the very short Stein also heightens the humor in their relationship.
  Stein's a natural comedic actress who gives us a big payoff in her ultimate scene, where Fred desperately tries to fall asleep atop 20 mattresses, under which one little pea resides. (Comedienne Carol Burnett originated the role of Princess Winnifred in 1959, and it was revived by Sarah Jessica Parker in 1996.)
  Jessi Hale, Jankowski and Irv Korman also make a delightfully funny trio as the minstrel, jester and king. Korman's a pro at his mute character's charades, both in his goofy trio and in the silly Man to Man Talk, where he ``explains'' to his son without words about the birds and the bees.
  Theresa Benyo-Marzullo is the over-the-top villainess Queen Aggravain, and Baldwin-Wallace student Erin Butcher is a hoot dressed up ridiculously as a nightingale.
  The twisted fairy-tale ending to this musical is great fun, as nearly everyone gets a ``happily ever after.''
      
---------------------------------
  Theater critic Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or by e-mail at kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com. 


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<DIV class=article_timestamp>Thougth that you would like to see this!</DIV>  <DIV class=article_timestamp>Marie Dusini  -- 330-836-2552</DIV>  <DIV class=article_timestamp> </DIV>  <DIV class=article_timestamp>Posted   Sat. July 22, 2006</DIV>  <DIV class=article_timestamp> </DIV>  <DIV class=article_timestamp><STRONG><FONT size=3>REVIEW</FONT></STRONG></DIV>  <H1>No napping at `Mattress'</H1>  <H2>Western Reserve's wacky musical will make kids giggle, adults laugh, though at different aspects</H2><!-- begin body-content -->  <DIV>A rowdy, irreverent fairy tale comes to life on the Western Reserve Playhouse stage with the musical comedy <I>Once Upon A Mattress.</I></DIV>  <DIV>The show takes the traditional fairy tale <I>The Princess and the Pea</I> and turns it on its head. The story is set in medieval times, but this musical tale has a modern sensibility.</DIV>  <DIV>Here, you have a mute, lech of a king, a cad of a knight, a wizard with a showbiz
 resume who competes with the jester, and a heroine who's anything but a girlie girl. Have you ever seen a princess who not only snores, but also can outlift her man when it comes to heavy weights?</DIV>  <DIV>In fact, Princess Winnifred (Fred for short) just may be the spunkiest fairy-tale feminist I can think of. Boston College student Deana Stein is a bright talent as this tomboy who comes from the swamplands and has oodles of confidence.</DIV>  <DIV>Fred's sure she'll outsmart the manipulative, control-freak Queen Aggravain to win the ultimate test to prove she's worthy of marrying Prince Dauntless. Sir Harry (Stephen Noreck) and Lady Larken (Laura Wilson) have a big motive for wanting Prince Dauntless to be married off: No one else in the kingdom may marry before he does.</DIV>  <DIV>OK, so why would an independent-minded princess care about winning the hand of the nerdball Prince Dauntless (Joseph Saks)? In Fred's solo <I>Happily Ever After, </I>even as she picks at
 other famous princesses who had some help achieving their ultimate goal of wedded bliss, she vamps it up to reveal ``I want some happily ever after to happen to me.''</DIV>  <DIV>What could be more fun than gathering a cast of 22 -- most of whom are high schoolers and young adults -- to put on a wacky summer musical? Director Mark Zimmerman of Firestone High School has succeeded in fully engaging his cast in this broad comedy, which will have young children giggling plenty and adults laughing on a whole other level (including at some of the sexual suggestiveness).</DIV>  <DIV>The solo singing talent runs the gamut in this show, but Stein is always a joy to hear and watch. Fig Jankowski as the jester also sings well and hams it up nicely in his vaudeville-style number <I>Very Soft Shoes.</I></DIV>  <DIV>The vocal ensemble work is good, especially in the cute number <I>Opening for a Princess. </I>Here, in another of the many showbiz references in this musical, the lords and
 ladies sing about how women are basically auditioning for the role of the prince's wife.</DIV>  <DIV>Even when ensemble member Jon Baley fell off the stage early in the show Thursday, he recovered nicely, and the mishap added to the show's general hilarity. Soon after that moment, Saks was doing his own pratfall as Prince Dauntless. His hunched-over, morose, brow-beaten Dauntless reminds one of the dog Droopy.</DIV>  <DIV>The sheer incongruity in size between the incredibly tall, bony Saks and the very short Stein also heightens the humor in their relationship.</DIV>  <DIV>Stein's a natural comedic actress who gives us a big payoff in her ultimate scene, where Fred desperately tries to fall asleep atop 20 mattresses, under which one little pea resides. (Comedienne Carol Burnett originated the role of Princess Winnifred in 1959, and it was revived by Sarah Jessica Parker in 1996.)</DIV>  <DIV>Jessi Hale, Jankowski and Irv Korman also make a delightfully funny trio as the
 minstrel, jester and king. Korman's a pro at his mute character's charades, both in his goofy trio and in the silly <I>Man to Man Talk, </I>where he ``explains'' to his son without words about the birds and the bees.</DIV>  <DIV>Theresa Benyo-Marzullo is the over-the-top villainess Queen Aggravain, and Baldwin-Wallace student Erin Butcher is a hoot dressed up ridiculously as a nightingale.</DIV>  <DIV>The twisted fairy-tale ending to this musical is great fun, as nearly everyone gets a ``happily ever after.''</DIV><!-- end body-content --><!-- begin body-end -->  <DIV class=body-end>  <DIV class=tagline>  <HR class=tagline color=#cccccc SIZE=1>  <I><SPAN class=tagline>Theater critic Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or by e-mail at <A href="mailto:kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com">kclawson at thebeaconjournal.com</A>.</SPAN></I> </DIV></DIV><!-- end body-end -->
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