Sutton Foster, Michael Urie and the rest of the Broadway cast of New York City Center Encores! revival of Once Upon a Mattress, directed by Lear deBessonet, go into the studio to record the much-anticipated Cast Album of their production at the end of January. The recording session follows the conclusion of a box office record-breaking run of the musical at the Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles last week. The album will be released by Center Stage Records and Shout! Broadway and is produced by Emmy Award-winner Amy Sherman-Palladino, Tony Award-winner Adam Guettel, Emmy and 4-time Grammy Award-winner Lawrence Manchester, and Jenny Gersten, and Executive Produced by Van Dean for Center Stage Records and Douglas Denoff for Shout! Broadway.
The album will be released physically and digitally on March 28, 2025. The CD is available for preorder now at www.centerstagerecords.com.
The recording will include the cast of the Hudson Theatre run, including two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster as Princess Winnifred, along with Michael Urie as Prince Dauntless, Nikki Renée Daniels as Lady Larken, David Patrick Kelly as King Sextimus the Silent, Ana Gasteyer as Queen Aggravain, Will Chase as Sir Harry, Daniel Breaker as the Jester, and Brooks Ashmanskas as the Wizard. The ensemble includes Daniel Beeman, Wendi Bergamini, Taylor Marie Daniel, Cicily Daniels, Ben Davis, Sheldon Henry, Oyoyo Joi, Amanda LaMotte, Sarah Michele Lindsey, Michael Olaribigbe, Adam Roberts, Jeffrey Schecter, Darius Wright, and Richard Riaz Yoder.
The recording will feature orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin, who scored the work's 1996 Broadway revival. Encores! Music Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell serves as Music Supervisor, with Annbritt duChateau as Music Director and Kimberlee Wertz as Music Coordinator. Music Contractor is Jill Del'Abate.
An uproarious update of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea,” Once Upon a Mattress sets an unapologetic free spirit loose in a repressed kingdom, where Winnifred the Woebegone charms, delights, and dances her way to the top… of a stack of mattresses. Full of gloriously catchy melodies like “Shy” and “In a Little While,” the musical first premiered in 1959, with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer.
Declared a “Critic’s Pick” twice by The New York Times which also raved, “Sutton Foster makes a banquet of the material... her glee in taking possession of the stage creates an all-encompassing manic energy that both the audience and her scene partners feed off.” New York Magazine wrote that Foster’s “escalating feats of strength, flexibility, and musicality, are sure to get the heart pumping and the crowd laughing. Let these weirdos rule the kingdom!”
“This stellar production of Once Upon a Mattress came to Center Theatre Group direct from Broadway and just wrapped up the highest grossing 4-week engagement in the history of the Ahmanson Theatre,” said CTG Producing Director, Douglas C. Baker. “We are thrilled that this incredible company, led by the incomparable Sutton Foster, will receive a cast recording so that it may continue to be enjoyed by generations to come."
The musical, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1959, launched the career of Carol Burnett, who starred in the work's original Off-Broadway and Broadway bows along with a string of live TV productions. The musical has since become a favorite at high schools and theatre groups around the world. This revival featured a book adaptation penned by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls).
The revival was choreographed by Lorin Latarro; and featured 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. Lighting designer is Justin Townsend. Cody Renard Richard is production stage manager, and casting is by The Telsey Office's Craig Burns.
The revival was produced by Seaview, Creative Partners Productions, Jenny Gersten & Half Zip Productions, and Hugo Six and Co-Produced by Cohen-Gutterman Productions, Bob Boyett, Stephen Byrd, Kate Cannova, Pam Hurst-Della Pietra & Stephen Della Pietra, Nicole Eisenberg, LD Entertainment, John Paterakis, Jay & Mary Sullivan, Richard Batchelder & Brady Brim-DeForest, We Eat Dreams, Judith Ann Abrams, Amy & PJ Lampi, Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship, Adam Cohen, Sally Jacobs & Warren Baker, Kors Le Pere Theatricals, Pamela Lloyd, Steve Peters, Suzanne Schoch Rehl & Scott Rehl, Trafalgar Entertainment, Dennis Trunfio, Viva Diva USA Inc, Mark Weinstein, Michael Wolk, Acton Carter Deignan Willman Productions, Crumhale Taylor Productions, Davis & Tatooles, Jamie deRoy, Howard Overby Fink & Rubin Productions, Mark Parkman Fairview Productions, TNT Schmookler, Under the Mattress, Chema Verduzco & Rebelle Media, Richard Winkler & Dawn Smalberg and New York City Center. Executive Produced by Sue Wagner, John Johnson, and Jillian Robbins.