New City Review - Mattress is RECOMMENDED

Once Upon A Mattress at the Drury Lane Oak Brook
Reviewed By Dennis Polkow for New City, Oct 27 2005

With the shutting down of Drury Lane Evergreen Park and last week's announcement that Drury Lane Water Tower Place will no longer be producing its own shows but will instead rent the ssace to incoming productions, Drury Lane Oak Brook remains the last Tony De Santis Drury Lane space producing its own shows in the area. Artistic director Ray Frewen is in his seventh year in that position and his creative take on musical classics raises them beyond the usual dinner-theater fare. True, the onetime racy 1959 "Once Upon A Mattress" is tame by today's standards, but the contemporary take on Hans Christian Anderson's "The Princess and the Pea" still has the power to entertain in spades, as Frewen's colorful production reminds us. Paula Scrofano is magnificent as the Queen who never shuts up and Kristen Freilich makes an entrance as the princess that is beyond hysterical. The attention to musical and choreographic detail makes this perfect family fun with laughs for every generation.