SHOWTIMERS AND AUDIENCE HAVE FUN WITH FAIRY TALE MUSICAL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 19, 1993                   TAG: 9302190181
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
SHOWTIMERS AND AUDIENCE HAVE FUN WITH FAIRY TALE MUSICAL
Showtimers' production of "Once Upon a Mattress" is an imaginative musical retelling of the "Princess and the Pea" fairy tale.
Lively and whimsical, the show is filled with lovable and laughable courtiers who are desperately seeking a real princess to marry off to Prince Dauntless (played by Tim Toler). By royal decree, no one else in the kingdom may marry until the bachelor prince weds. But some couples, like Sir Harry and Lady Larken (played by Jeff Walker and Kristy Ratcliffe), are in a particular hurry to get married within nine months.
When princess after princess fails the Queen's royalty test, Sir Harry sets out to find another candidate. The unlikely young woman he returns with is Princess Winnifred from the Swamps.
Far from the delicate princess ideal, Winnifred, played by Julie Joll, a teacher at Cave Spring Junior High School, is an immediately likable, self-assertive, somewhat tomboyish character who prefers to be called "Fred." The prince falls for her right away.
But Queen Aggravain, fearful of losing her son, conspires with the Wizard (played by Frank McClung) to devise a "sensitivity" test the princess is sure to fail.
A true princess would be sensitive to even the slightest imperfection. Something as minute as a pea under a mattress would keep real royalty awake all night, the Queen reasons.
To pad the test results a bit, the Queen orders 20 mattresses placed on top of the tiny pea. A hypnotic trance and a magical sleeping potion further ensure a good night's sleep for Winnifred.
But her determination to keep her son single and all to herself is no match against the courtiers' concerted efforts to get him hitched.
This central conflict is the source of some truly wonderful, comical moments and light-hearted musical numbers in the play.
Susan Brugh Bennett is outstanding as the verbose vixen Queen. Her loud and domineering character evokes laughter with nearly every spoken line - and she has a lot of them.
Her husband, the mute King (played by Bo Chagnon) is equally funny in his hapless efforts to avoid her wrath.
Director Laban Johnson, who started with Showtimers 35 years ago, has assembled a capable cast of 21, with musical direction by Barbara Williams and choreography by Carter Cox, to stage a fun evening's entertainment.
Other cast members include George Stevens, Jason Overbay, Valerie Brugh, Patsy Castellano, Doray Feeser, Joanna Capps, Debbie Nichols, Dale Johnson, Carter Cox, Bud McWhorter, Kim Cantor, Cheryl Mitchell, Christopher Berger and Christian Doyle.

"Once Upon a Mattress" continues at Showtimers' McVitty Road Studio through Feb. 28. Performances are 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Sundays. 774-2660\

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB