ONCE UPON a MATTRESS with Sutton Foster-The Show that Should R.I.P,

Sutton Foster is your triple threat theatrical star who can sing, dance and act to some degree but she is not reason enough to sit through this tired, silly musical whose appeal has long since dried up. I saw this show at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles at it's closing Thursday matinee performance. Matinees typically bring out the grey haired set and perhaps the precocious preteen theater kids and this matinee's demographics leaned heavily to both ends; over 75 and under 12. For the minority of attendees in the majority age range, it was a tedious musical to wallow through with little to do but grin and bear it. The talents of Foster in the lead as the likable, laughable Princess Winnifred wishing to marry Prince Dauntless (Michael Urie, "Shrinking") were well cast but alas, they were not able to breath life into this dated show derived from a Hans Christian Anderson tale. This Anderson tale had appeal only for the fairytale fan club. The original music for the Broadway production which opened back in 1959 was by Mary Rodgers, the daughter of legendary composer Richard Rodgers. It did not need to be revived for Broadway or any other large scale theatrical release. The campiness, cartoonish characters and slapstick humor were all long in the tooth and short on charm. The Queen (Ana Gasteyer,  former SNL cast member) makes those wishing to marry her son pass impossible tasks thereby holding onto her reign of her kingdom. The humor is inane throughout. The childlike King is mute due to a wicked spell. He tries to explain the birds and bees in a ridiculous pantomime to his dolt of a son. The other parallel love story between a nitwit knight and a lady in waiting, waiting to marry him, belabors the moronic storytelling. Watching ONCE UPON a MATTRESS was onerous for most of us who attend the theater intending to be entertained.