The production just barrels forward under the direction of Lear deBessonet — who adds to her streak of successfully staging musicals riffing on fairy tales, following the recent Broadway revival of “Into the Woods.” Amy Sherman-Palladino (creator of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) has spruced up the original book with an unobtrusive hand, and Fred benefits from many of the new lines. Foster, who starred in Sherman-Palladino’s series “Bunheads,” fluidly navigates the writer’s rat-a-tat stream of consciousness. She is equally at ease with her big numbers — “Shy,” “The Swamps of Home” and “Happily Ever After” — and throws herself into the near-constant slapstick.
It is especially satisfying to get a gawky, wacky princess who is neither the damsel in peril of olden times nor the plucky, capable Disney girl boss. Fred is a free spirit, enthusiastically picking leeches off her back after swimming the castle’s moat and blissfully impervious to traditional authority or gender roles.
The production does have a few hiccups, like a stiff jester (Daniel Breaker) who reads more like a major-domo, but they are forgotten whenever the two stars are on — especially together, as they are in perfect tonal sync. Urie’s command of both the physical and verbal requirements has gotten more precise since the Encores! run. He combines the two with uncanny skill in “Man to Man Talk,” a half-sung, half-pantomimed duet between Dauntless and his father, King Septimus (David Patrick Kelly).
Even if he did not appear to be very picky when we first met him, Dauntless is understandably charmed by the offbeat newcomer. Fred, in return, is unfazed by the prince’s own idiosyncrasies.
What saves the musical from veering into childishness is its sly attitude toward what lurks behind Dauntless and Fred’s exuberant naïveté. Anticipating the joys of being a bride, the princess lists perks like new socks and getting to do gymnastics. Then she muses, “And you get a pal. Someone who thinks you’re funny and calls you a nickname. And you get to go places, and you do everything together, which makes the yearly showers way more fun.”
When it comes to this particular couple, Urie and Foster make you believe in a happy future that may include all kinds of calisthenics.
Once Upon a Mattress
Through Nov. 30 at Hudson Theater, Manhattan; thehudsonbroadway.com. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes.
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