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Raucous energy at heart

Once Upon A Mattress, music by
Mary Rodgers, lyrics by
Marshall Barer. A First
impressions Theatre production
at Deep Cove Shaw Theatre to
Dec, 2. Res: 929-9456.

IT IS interesting to compare
Once Upon A Mattress with
Stephen Sondheim's Into The
Woods, currently running at
UBC’s Freddie Wood Theatre.

By Martin Millerchip
Contributing Writer

Sondheim's cleverly conceived
and adventurously arranged musi-
- cal takes four classic fairy stories,

intertwines the plots and, just when
you think it's happy-ever- -after-
time, delves into its ‘own
metaphors and morality in an
unexpectedly disquieting second
act.
Once Upon A Mattress is far
less‘complex. [t reteils, with
tongue'slightly. in cheek, the sim-

ple nursery, story of The Princess’

“And The Pea and provides its audi-

-encé with a love story or two and”
accompanying duets, a little soft
shoe, some inoffensive comedy -

_ and the traditional happy-ever-after
ending.

_- i It's: a> show: to which you.can
quite safely take your great-aunt or
your grandchildren. The-music is

accessible, the story uncomplicated’

Murray, who recently and spec-

tacularly pulled almost all of it off

in Noises Off, once agin is a
standout.

From the moment her princess
C‘Sust call me Fred.") swam
through the castle moat and into
the musical, my urge was to get
out a fishing rod and see what else
was down there. In the immortal
words of Farley Mowatt: “She's a
keeper, ch!”

Murray's gauche gusto provid-
ed a raucous energy that gave heart
to a pleasant production that, on
opening night at least, necded to
believe in itself a littke more.

For instance, while the chorus
numbers were generally powerful

the duets and trios often seemed

tentative. -

‘But since the difference
between singing a song and selling
a song is only the amount of fun
the performer is having, perhaps a
few performances will provide the
confidence needed.

And there is much solid work to
build on. ° ;

Brooke - Burgess’. dopey
Dauntless with the mournfully liq-
uid eyes of a blood hound without

and the sexual innuendo; unlike the ~
tudge-nudge, wink-wink style of | |

pantomime, charmingly innocent.

’ In fact, given its formulaic

approach to the business of being a

musical, the show would be unre-

. markably bland if it were not for

its central character — the role that

“gave Carol Burnett. her boost up

Broadway.

Burnett's legs are long ones to

fill but Cheryl Murray pulls it off.

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a sense of smell provides a perfect
foil to Murray's energy.

Leslie Davie is an effortlessly
chauvinistic prig with good inten-
tions, while Colleen Bignell, as bis
disadvantaged lover, is a sweet-
voiced bundle of confusion,

Joan Harris and Al Simpson are
a perfectly contrasting pair of
rulers: a big, brassy queen and her
silent sparrow of a husband.

Congratulations must go to
Nick Boughen for designing a sct
that has successfully served Noises
Off and Arsenic And Old Lace in
previous incarnations, But director
Norman Leggatt might have been
better advised to reduce the bulk
and gain more floor space since the
company numbers looked very
cramped.

This unfortunate crowding of
the dance scenes is compounded
by a clashing series of contrasting
colors and fabrics in the costumes
that left me wanting to close my
eyes when too many of them
moved at once.

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