Broadway's Jackie Hoffman (The Addams Family) and drag artist John “Lypsinka” Epperson will star in a one-night-only concert performance of the 1959 musical Once Upon A Mattress on June 17 at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre. The event, directed by Jack Cummings III, will benefit the Transport Group and will feature a talkback with composer Mary Rodgers after the show.
Hoffman will lead the concert as Princess Winnifred with Lypsinka playing Queen Aggravain. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.
With music by Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer and a book by Barer, Jay Thompson and Dean Fuller, Once Upon A Mattress tells the story of The Princess and the Pea with a few magical fairy tale twists. The show made a star of Carol Burnett, who originated the role of Winnifred in 1949 and went on to earn a Tony nomination. The show has since been revived only once on Broadway with a 1996 production starring Sarah Jessica Parker.