Review of Once Upon a Mattress

by Dan Zeff

Excerpted from the Copley Newservice

OAKBROOK TERRACE - "Once Upon a -Mattress" is a fractured fairy tale best known as Carol Burnett's first starring role on Broadway. Burnett went onto stardom on television, though she never had another Broadway success. Meanwhile, ''Once Upon a Mattress" lives on in regional theaters as a genially Comic and facetious musical, now comfortably revived at the Drury Lane Theatre.

...The trick in any revival is finding an actress in the Burnett mold, and Drury Lane has found a delicious performer named Kristen Freilich to play Winnifred in all her hoydenish charm- Freilich is a diminutive high-energy young lady who dominates the stage with her comic exuberance. More importantly, she doesn't go over the top, refusing to overdo Winnifred's goofiness in search of cheap laughs. Plus, Freilich has a sterling voice. The show suffers in the second act by her absence for all but two numbers...

"Ones Upon a Mattress" is a diversion, a savvy blend of whimsy and lighter than air romance. The Drury Lane revival isn't perfect, for the reasons given above, but Kristen Freilich is good enough to carry the show when she's on view.