Dream Casting

Dream Cast: Once Upon a Mattress — Starring Carol Burnett and Kristin Chenoweth

What Carol Burnett wants, Carol Burnett gets.

What if Kristin Chenoweth and Carol Burnett starred in a revival of the 1959 musical Once Upon a Mattress?
What if Kristin Chenoweth and Carol Burnett starred in a revival of the 1959 musical Once Upon a Mattress?

Earlier this week at a Love Letters press event, the iconic star of stage and screen Carol Burnett told TheaterMania that she'd consider returning to Broadway in a musical on the conditions that a) the musical is Once Upon a Mattress (the show in which she made her Broadway debut in 1959); b) she could play the evil Queen Aggravain; and c) the show would star Kristin Chenoweth as Winnifred, the role that launched Burnett's career. So we got to thinking, if Chenoweth and Burnett starred in a revival of Once Upon a Mattress, who would be the best principal actors to join them?


Joseph Gordon-Levitt — Prince Dauntless

Prince Dauntless isn't too well-versed in the ways of love, so we narrowed our pool of contenders to actors with a certain boyish charm. And who does boyish charm better than the ageless and dimple-cheeked Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Plus, he and Kristin Chenoweth would make an adorable couple. It's just objectively true.


(© Matthew Murphy)

Annaleigh Ashford — Lady Larken

Annaleigh Ashford's bold pirouettes are currently on display in the Broadway revival of You Can't Take It With You, in which she plays the hopelessly untalented wannabe ballerina Essie. Her spot-on comic timing would be put to great use as the knocked-up lady-in-waiting who pines for Sir Harry as hard as Essie does for the spotlight.


(© Joan Marcus)

Zachary Levi — Sir Harry
And who's more pine-worthy than our singing stud muffin Zachary Levi, who lent his voice to Disney's animated musical Tangled and made his Broadway debut in last season's First Date? There's no doubt he and Annaleigh could live happily ever after, forever hand in glove.


(© Nancy Palmieri)

Bill Irwin — King Sextimus
As one of the great miming clowns of our generation, Bill Irwin knows a thing or two about the silent treatment. We can't wait to see Sesame Street's Mr. Noodle teaching Joseph Gordon-Levitt about the facts of life with what are sure to be some seriously sordid gestures.


(© Matthew Murphy)

Keala Settle — The Minstrel
Keala Settle knows a thing or two about playing narrators, having played one recently in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Plus, we know she'll put some awesome vocal pyrotechnics on display in the opening number, "Many Moons Ago."


If you're craving some Once Upon a Mattress, check out this clip of Carol Burnett performing "Shy," and fill out the rest of our dream cast in the comments below.