Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade- Page 2
Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#25
Posted: 12/19/05 at 12:40pmi only saw the last 20 minutes. carol burnett looked drunk. oh wait -- can i get sued for that?
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#27
Posted: 12/19/05 at 12:55pmF!!! IT WAS AWFUL!!! THE ONLY GOOD PARTS WERE CAROL BURNETT'S COSTUMES. (THEY LOOKED LIKE BOB MACKEE, BUT HE WAS NOT CREDITED.???) ANWAY, DISNEY RUINED THIS GREAT SHOW! JUST LIKE THEY RUINED THE MUSIC MAN!
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#28
Posted: 12/19/05 at 12:55pmD
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#29
Posted: 12/19/05 at 12:56pmpsssssst..... your caps lock is on.
Chorus Member Joined: 12/6/05
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#30
Posted: 12/19/05 at 12:57pm
B-
Updated On: 12/19/05 at 12:57 PM
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#31
Posted: 12/19/05 at 12:57pmWell, Music Man was ALSO Kathleen Marshall, and IMO they both had the same community theatre feel to the staging and choreography. I can't say I've seen any of Kathleen's work on stage, but I'm not impressed with her abilities for the small screen.
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#32
Posted: 12/19/05 at 12:59pmsorry, colleen. My keyboard does that whenever i'm about to throw up because of a horrible movie. Thanks for the hint!
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#33
Posted: 12/19/05 at 1:21pm
I thought THE MUSIC MAN was awful....this one was enjoyable, and ANNIE was wonderful and CINDERELLA was dreck, so it seems to be hit or miss with this particular art form.
At least SOMEONE is producing musicals...that should count for something. 
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#34
Posted: 12/19/05 at 1:25pm
I agree, Singing. At least SOMEONE is doing it. I found it enjoyable, cute, I give it a b-. I liked Music Man, not so much Annie. Probably only liked MM for Chenoweth. 
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#35
Posted: 12/19/05 at 1:29pmC. I didn't like the way it looked.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#37
Posted: 12/19/05 at 1:59pmIf I'm not mistaken...I believe Ms. Burnett's headdresses were designed by Isaac Mizrahi.
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#38
Posted: 12/19/05 at 2:15pm
I'd give it a B.
Let's face it, it is NOT one of the Great American Musicals -- but it's cute and it can be lots of fun. I enjoyed this new one without being blown away by it, in part because I didn't expect to be.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/1/04
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#39
Posted: 12/19/05 at 2:17pm
C+
I think there was a lot of energy and talent in this peice, but all misplaced. I liked what they were doing with the cartoony, Fairy Tale look of he movie, but it all felt too small and confined for a castle. Even the ballroom wasn't that big and that courtyard was making me clastrephobic. It couldn't have cost THAT much more for Disney to rent a bigger soundstage! I also felt that the costumes were pretty blah, except for Bob Mackie's Queen costumes, which were quite amazing (And he was like the first person in the credits, to the person above who said otherwise).
The choreography was surprisingly bad and poorly shot, kind of a shock with kathleen Marshal at the helm. She could learn a thing or two from her brother. The dancing was quite akwardly staged and with the exception of a few numbers, not filmed to its full potential.
The biggest problem was in the casting. I while I love Tracey and Dennis, I felt they were both a tad old for their roles. I know that it makes sense for them to be older, but still. I also found that Tracey just wasn't brash enough, which ruined the whole character. I think they should have looked harder for another Winnifred.
I thought Matt and Zooey were actually quite good, and acted in that cheesy Fairy Tale format, and sung well (I LOVE Zooey's jazz voice, I have since Elf).
Akiva
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/04
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#40
Posted: 12/19/05 at 2:23pmB+ Carol Brunette was funny. O'Hare and Ullman did very well in parts they're about 20 years too old for (although i think ullman did worlds better with the material than marissa winoker would have) Micheal Boatman was wasted. Compared to the music man this is outstanding, although the castle set (particularly scenes on the top of it looked like a middle school play). One last note, this is the first Wonderful World of Disney Musical that Victor Garber didn't play a mjor role in; (the mayor in the music man, warbucks in annie, the king in cinderella)
Understudy Joined: 9/4/05
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#41
Posted: 12/19/05 at 2:34pm
C.
You need to take it for what it's worth - a not-so-stellar show and a TV-movie-musical. It's a tough combination, but I didn't think it was that bad.
I did find myself flipping back and forth between it, and "Home Alone."
Featured Actor Joined: 4/2/05
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#42
Posted: 12/19/05 at 3:17pm
B-.
Link Larkin Wannabe pretty much summarized my thoughts. I would have liked to see a younger Winnifred/Dauntless, but I loved Zooey - her voice may not have fit the "conventional" Lady Larken, but I think it was a really cool twist on the role, and plus, she's gorgeous to boot.
Tracey and Dennis were both good, but I have to say, I don't see how Dauntless would have fallen in love with Ullman's Fred so quickly. Best Dennis line delivery? "..and the hawk bit daddy."
I LOVED the Nightengale scene.
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#43
Posted: 12/19/05 at 3:29pmB. Kathleen Marhsall improved as the movie went on. Link Larkin, I agree about the claustrophobia in the movie, but for me it was more because of the extreme closeups then anything else. But that got better as the movie went on. I thoroughly enjoyed each cast member and adored Carol. This was the saving grace for WWD tv musicals since the dreck that was The Music Man. Off Topic: I'm surprised a lot of people didn't like Annie; I thought it was one of their best. I, personally, felt that Gypsy was their best with Annie a close second.
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#44
Posted: 12/19/05 at 3:30pmUGGG -- Zooey was flat SO MUCH of the time. I liked the quality of her voice, but didn't think it fit the part. Personlly, her vocal quality would have been a better fit for Winnefred than Lady Larken (IMO), but she doesn't seem to have the power that's needed (and that Tracey also didn't have).
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#45
Posted: 12/19/05 at 3:32pmF
Broadway Star Joined: 5/19/03
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#46
Posted: 12/19/05 at 3:51pm
C-
I can't believe how incredibly cheap all the castle sets looked. It actually looked like the entire thing was made of cardboard. Just terrible. Also, Marshall can't direct a film for the life of her. AWFUL camerawork/choreography. But the performances were what saved it for me.
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#47
Posted: 12/19/05 at 3:54pmCall me crazy...but I loved the "Spanish Panic" scene.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#48
Posted: 12/19/05 at 3:58pm
D
Carol Burnett's performance: B+ (she may not be as good as she was, say 20 years ago but she's still a riot)
re: Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade#49
Posted: 12/19/05 at 4:01pmAgreed, wicked.
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