When Robert Komendera was a kid, one of his favorite parts of the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoons was the fractured fairy tale, a retelling of classic fairy tales with plot and/or character twists.
As director of Footlight Theatre’s production of “Once Upon a Mattress,” Komendera said that applying that fractured fairy tale interpretation to the script will make the performance a humorous experience, with a few groaners, for audiences.
“I have always loved fractured fairy tales and have written a few shows in that genre. The Carol Burnett version of ‘Once Upon a Mattress’ was on TV as a kid and I loved it,” he said. “I thought it should be a fractured fairy tale, so I think people are really going to enjoy this interpretation of the ‘Princess and the Pea.'”
“It is definitely satirical, overacted and the audience should even groan at times. It’s really fun. It’s a musical with Lee Meyer doing the music, my assistant is John Avila, and the costumer is Laura Meyer, who did a wonderful job on them,” Komendera said.
The original Hans Christian Andersen story “The Princess and the Pea,” tells the tale Prince Dauntless who searches his medieval kingdom for a proper princess to marry and he has placed a moratorium on marriage until he finds his bride.
The musical is Komendera’s 40th Footlight production as director, although he has directed more than 73 shows at seven community theaters in the region.
Komendera said he previously has worked with Shannon Wyels, who portrays Princess Winnifred.
“She was Annie in my production of ‘Annie’ in 1988 and was wonderful. Over the years she has grown and is three times as good as she was,” he said.
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Heather Augustyn is a freelance writer.
‘Once Upon a Mattress’
When: Friday through Sunday, Oct. 9 through 11 and Oct. 16 through 18
Where: Footlight Theatre, 1705 Franklin St., Michigan City
Tickets: $15, children 12 and younger $10
Information: 219-874-4035 or footlightplayers.org