Give Disney's Once Upon a Mattress a Grade- Page 4

[evic]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 6:54pm

D+-Cheap looking, horrific casting- winnie- too old, Prince- way too old and gay- Jester- if your gonna do interracial casting, at least hire someone who is funny and charming- Burnett- yawn, chorus-thinking of their next gig, direction and choreography- F-it helps to have a famous brother-

Posted: 12/19/05 at 6:58pm

Sorry to offend you Munkus, but I like Matt and Zooey- and Tracy was really funny... sorry you dont agree- its just my opinon.

[iwearshoes]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 6:58pm

C+

The show was supposed to look fanciful...but it seemed like it was on a $20 budget.

[luvliza89]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 7:21pm

I agree with whomever said the choreography was horrid. It was. The pace seemed to be slow too, esp. during "Shy".

Overall, it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either. I did enjoy Tracy's "Happily, Happily Ever After" and I thought Zooey's voice was great and mixed beautifully with Morrison's during "Normandy". I too wanted more from Tracy though. Oh well.

Solid C, I think.

[roquat]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 7:33pm

evic (emphasis on "ick")

Kathleen and Rob Marshall got their start working together on "Kiss of the Spider Woman". Their talents are pretty well matched and both of them have extensive Broadway resumes (Kathleen's is probably longer than Rob's). Furthermore, as I said, I've worked with her (when she was directing by herself) and I'm stunned at how easily she controls all the elements of a production. I'm sorry you didn't like "Mattress", but I never want to hear that "riding on her brother's coattails" comment again. Ever. From anyone.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 7:41pm

Did you hear that? EVERYONE?

[roquat]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 7:45pm

That means you too, mister (throw head back, sneer, stamp out cigarette)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 7:55pm

I, personally, disagree with whoever said that. Anyone with any sense would diagree with that.

I knew who Kathleen was before I ever heard of Rob Marshall.

While I highly respect her stage work, I thought her work in MATTRESS was deplorable.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 8:04pm

Thank you, Munk. I don't know her stage work, only her TV work. Based on that alone, she would not be on my list for choreographer / directors for any project. I'm SURE her stage work is much better. I just felt her work on both Music Man and Mattress looked like it belonged in a Saturday Night Live skit, both from quality of choreography and execution.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 8:05pm

Zooey and Matt could not have been more boring if they tried. (And I am a fan of Matt's work...he was fine alone, but Zooey just brought him down.)

Carol was the only thing I enjoyed. Sue me. And the new song, I liked it. The ending was all wrong for Carol...but ya know...

Tracy I thought did a fine job. The music was so boring, she could do nothing to make it entertaining. And, from what I understand, it was the orchestrations that were bad. "Spanish Panic" has to be one of the worst scenes ever in a movie. EVER! Even the dance scene in Grease looked tougher than the supposed "toughest" dance ever. Everyone was fine, then they all pass out. It's like they cut scenes, choreorgraphy, and life from that sequence. Then again, perhaps it was the boring nature that caused them all to pass out. Sure made me pass out.

Denis had his moments. Or moment. He was too - gay - as usual. And he was too old for the role. Tracy looked like she should be Denis' mother - but that's casting - can't blame the actors for how they age.

This was my first and last look at Mattress. Completely turned off.
Updated On: 12/19/05 at 08:05 PM

[MissMonika]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 9:36pm

oh, i didn't like it at all. it was so....cannot find the word....bleh. nothing special

[lamentingenvelope]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 9:40pm

I give it a B.

Oh, heck, it wasn't TRYING to be a work of brilliance. I thought it was lighthearted and fun, and I had fun watching it, even though I knew I wasn't watching the next great leap forward for the movie musical.

I thought Tracey was great. Matthew was gorgeous as usual, I love his voice. I too was worried about Denis being a bit miscast but he won me over pretty quick, I thought he was great and had some hilarious deliveries. I loved Carol even though I felt she could have been meaner - meaner and less wacky. Zooey wasn't top notch, but goodness, isn't she pretty?

Maybe I feel this way because I wasn't all that familiar/attacted to 'Once Upon a Mattress' and therefore wasn't expecting anything. For me it was an enjoyable couple of hours, like I said before, flawed but fun.

[thepopularone]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 9:56pm

D-

[Phantour]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 10:31pm

"Ofcourse I was annoyed that they took out the Minstrel and his songs, but I'm glad that gave Harry and Larken "Normandy", instead of that other song. It made since too, because they really weren't as mad as they are in the play."

I agree. When Lady Larken was in jail and she said she was leaving because she had a fight with Harry I was thinking, "What fight? Was this edited out? Oh, you mean that arguement when Winnifred first arrived? Please I forgot about that 30 minutes ago!" So when that scene began when Harry and Larken meet again I was thinking Yesterday I Love You isn't going to work now since they don't seem mad at each other. Plus Normany is one of my favorite songs so I was thrilled they still kept it and Matthew sounded really nice singing it.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 10:58pm

i'd give it a B-/C+

my reasons: I felt the casting was somewhat flawed, Lady Larken was so mundane.....Tracy Ullman was good but i expected Winnifred to be a lot more vocally inclined, Matt Morrison was a good point of the movie. I felt they cut the songs to the extent where it didnt make any sense and what the hell was it doing there? The camera work was a little tacky but at times very cute and i felt the cast was vocally challenged exception to the trio of princesses that had lovely voices. Carol Burnett was wonderful but it sort of looked like she was racing through it and perhaps not her greatest take on the role. Though i applaud them for doing an overall okay job with it, did they cut the minstrel out of the show? I think if they were a little more faithful to the stage version it would've gone a little better

[greenifyed]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 11:09pm

I'll give it a C. I'd give it a B, but they changed my favorite song, and got rid of my other favorite. Normandy and Very Soft Shoes, respectively.

And no Minstrel made baby Jesus cry.

[StageWhore]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 11:25pm

B/B-. I'd never seen it before, so I didn't really go in with any expectations. It was enjoyable, and I really liked Fred. Now, it wasn't mind-blowing good, but it was a pleasant Sunday evening. And Spanish Panic was really fun to watch.

[broadway geek]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 11:26pm

I guess I didn't notice the song cuts because I have the original cast and there weren't that many changes from it. From the WWD movie musicals I've seen, I'd rate them in this order.

Annie
Once Upon a Mattress
Cinderella
Music Man

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 1:17am

A+++++ for Matty, about the only time I paid attention to the tv

I thought it was EXACTLY how I figured it would be...the Disney made for tv musicals usually are about this calibar. They are cute, fun to watch, but not the highest of quality.

overall I'd give it a C+...it was fun...I'm pretty unfamiliar with the show so I don't have anything to compare it to.

-Steph

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:44am

B-

cute, some good acting, looked cheap, but oh well, it was enjoyable

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:21pm

Have any of you seen the stage show? Just a question.

With the choreogoraphy: Is it bad that our high school pretty much did the same choreography? Except for in the Spanish Panic, but it was pretty much dead on for Shy.

And I didn't think Carol was Aggravain enough.

[sanda]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:54pm

C

I didn't expect a masterpiece. Just a pleasure will be great. But the show is not funny at all.

And I agree, the choreography is silly. I love Katherine Marshall's work in Kiss Me, Kate and Wonderful Town. But here it is simply bad.

[DramaDork925]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 1:05pm

D-... I really only watched hoping Matthew Morrison has another song. If his voice was in every movie I'd watch all of them.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 3:14pm

I find it interesting that so many people were blown away by Matthew Morrison in this production. Yes, he has a beautiful voice, but he sounded so generic in this that it was a total bore. I guess that's the Disney stamp, but he was made to sound like every romantic lead in every recent Disney animated musical. If I closed my eyes, it could have been anyone singing that. I guess that's why people liked Zooey -- because she sounded unique.

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 4:08pm

C...I kinda got bored 20 minutes into it...