Broadway star and SNL alum Ana Gasteyer recently stopped by Good Morning America to talk about the new production of Once Upon a Mattress currently playing on Broadway.
The actress recalled joining the production because it would be a “guaranteed joyride.” “I just knew it was going to be fun and silly. It’s based on a vaudeville classic. It’s not deep or complicated,” she said, laughing.
She went on to talk about her role as the “mean, horrible” Queen Aggravain, who “screams at everyone”, and stressed how much fun it was to play the villain alongside Sutton Foster’s Princess Winnifred.
She notes that this role is different, at least vocally, from other stage roles she’s played in the past. “I have a number here. I’ve done other shows where I sang the whole show. For example, I was Elphaba in Wicked, where you live your whole life like a nun and you’re constantly warming up. This is more like annoying people in their dressing rooms,” she says of her playful friendship with co-star Brooks Ashmanskas.
Watch the full interview!
Once Upon a Mattress returns to Broadway in a new adaptation by Emmy Award winner Amy Sherman-Palladino (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Gilmore Girls”) and directed by Tony Award nominee and Drama League Award winner Lear deBessonet (“Into The Woods”). A hilarious reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea,” Once Upon a Mattress unleashes an unrepentant free spirit in a repressed kingdom where Winnifred the Sorrowful uses her charm, joy and dancing to fight her way to the top… of a stack of mattresses. Full of wonderfully catchy tunes like “Shy” and “In a Little While,” the musical premiered in 1959 with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and a book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer.
The new production of Once Upon a Mattress is a transfer of the record-breaking, sold-out performance of Encores! at New York City Center earlier this year. Foster will reprise her role as Winnifred, alongside Michael Urie as Prince Dauntless.
Once Upon A Mattress began previews on Broadway on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, and its official premiere was on Monday, August 12, 2024, for a limited time through November 30, 2024, at the Hudson Theatre.
