Ana Gasteyer Will Rule Over Broadway's Once Upon a Mattress

Hear ye, hear ye! The principal cast of Broadway's upcoming Once Upon a Mattress revival is finally ours to behold. The New York City Center Encores! transfer begins performances July 31 at the Hudson Theatre, with opening night set for August 12. The limited run will continue through November 30.

It was previously reported that Sutton Foster and Michael Urie will reprise their performances from the City Center run as Princess Winifred and Prince Dauntless. Also reprising their earlier performances will be Nikki Renée Daniels as Lady Larken and David Patrick Kelly as King Sextimus the Silent.

New for the Broadway run will be Ana Gasteyer as Queen Aggravain, Will Chase as Sir Harry, Daniel Breaker as the Jester, and Brooks Ashmanskas as the Wizard. Further casting is to be announced.

Featuring a book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer; music by Mary Rodgers; and lyrics by Barer, Once Upon a Mattress is a comedic retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Princess and the Pea. The musical, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1959, launched the career of Carol Burnett, who starred in the work's Off-Broadway and Broadway bows along with a string of live TV performances. The musical has since become a favorite at high schools and theatre groups around the world. This revival features a book adaptation penned by Amy Sherman-Palladino.

Read reviews for the Encores! run here.

Following the Broadway run, Foster and Urie (further casting is to be announced) will take the revival to Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre via Center Theatre Group, with performances beginning December 10 and continuing through January 5, 2025.

Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet (Into the Woods) staged the January run, and will reprise her work on Broadway, alongside fellow returning creative team members choreographer Lorin Latarro; scenic designer David Zinn; costume designer Andrea Hood; sound designer Kai Harada; hair, wig, and makeup designer J. Jared Janas; and physical comedy and effect designer Skylar Fox. New for the Broadway bow will be lighting designer Justin Townshend. Cody Renard Richard will serve as production stage manager, and casting is by The Telsey Office's Craig Burns.

And, it also appears that the transfer will not use the musical's original orchestration as it did in the earlier run. The transfer will feature orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin, who also scored the musical's 1996 Broadway revival. Encores! Music Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell will serve as music supervisor, with Annbritt duChateau as music director.

The upcoming revival will be the eighth Encores! production to play the Main Stem, following earlier transfers of Chicago, The Apple Tree, Gypsy, Finian's Rainbow, After Midnight, Violet (which originated as a New York City Center Encores! Off-Center production, also starring Foster), and Into the Woods. A 2000 Encores! concert of Wonderful Town also inspired a full Broadway revival in 2003.

Seaview and Creative Partners Productions are producing.

Tickets are on sale at OnceUponaMattress.com.

See photos from the production's New York City Center run: