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Chance Carmichael1

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August 29, 20064

Once Upon A Mattress5

Once Upon a Mattress was originally performed November 25, 1959 at the Alvin Theater in New York City. It did not stay in one place though. Over its eight month stint, it moved to four different theaters. Those included the Alvin Theatre, Winter Garden Theatre, Cort Theatre, and the St. James Theatre. It ended July 2, 1960 after 244 total performances.6

Nominated for two awards, the musical was a highlight at the 1960 Tony Awards. However, it did not win either Best Musical nor did Carol Burnette take home an award for Best Actress in a Musical. This foreshadowed the revival’s sad fate when it was only nominated for one measly award, Best Revival Musical, but did not win it. 7

The musical has starred Carol Burnette in the original and two of the reincarnations of it. In the original production, the famous sketch comedian played Princess Winnifred. She did not appear in the revival, but the tradition of household names playing the Princess continued. Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and The City fame played the part well. The movie featured another sketch comic as Princess Winnifred. Tracey Ullman of The Tracy Ullman Show, popularly known as the show that gave Simpsons creator a chance and featured shorts of the infamous show in between sketches, fame starred as Winnifred.8

Carol Burnett reprised her role for the 1972 movie. She performed the musical again in the 2005 movie revival that featured her as Queen Aggravain. It was a made for TV movie that premiered December 18 of that year on ABC. A DVD of the movie revival is available now. 9

The original production starred Jane White as Queen Aggravain. This was the very first white role that was played by an African-american woman. The music was composed by Mary Rodgers, daughter of one of two names that goes hand and hand with musical theatre, Richard Rodgers. 10