History Theatre / OnceUponAMattress

* FracturedFairyTale and TwiceToldTale: One of the earlier examples of the former.

* GenderBlenderName[=/=]TomboyishName: Princess Winifred is known to her friends as Fred.

* IAmSong: "Shy".
* IWantSong: "HappilyEverAfter".

* MeaningfulName:
** Queen Aggravain (a portmanteau of "aggravating" and "migraine", and there's "vain" in there too as a bonus).
** And for a bit of a GeniusBonus, it looks similar to real mythological names like Ygraine, the mother of King Arthur.
** It's also the name of a member of King Arthur's court, a sibling of Gawaine's. A male sibling, that is.
* MidwordRhyme: "In A Little While".

* MommasBoy: Prince Dauntless.
* MyBelovedSmother:
** Queen Aggravaine. She doesn’t want her son to get married at all and purposely designs ridiculous tests for each princess that seeks him out so that they fail. Even when Winifred passes the test, Aggravaine still tries to dissuade her son from marrying Winifred.
** [[IncrediblyLamePun Not to be confused with]] My Beloved Tom Smothers as Sextimus in one of the TV versions!

* WedlockBlock: Nobody is allowed to marry until Dauntless does.

* NotAoWellIntentionedExtremist: It is very clear that Aggravain wants to keep Dauntless under her thumb despite coming up with a rule of no one else being able to marry until her son does.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** It's also a member of King Arthur's court, a sibling of Gawaine's. A male sibling, that is.

* ProphecyTwist: Yes, they ''already'' tried breaking the King's curse with a big mouse and a small hawk, but it didn't work out. Instead [[spoiler: the curse is broken when the mouse(y) Prince Dauntless finally overcomes the hawk(ish) Queen Aggravaine.]]

-->'''Prince Dauntless:''' Why must every princess get the bird?

* GenderBlenderName[=/=]TomboyishName: Princess Winnifred is known to her friends as Fred.

-->'''Queen:''' Are you feeling a little weary, dear?

** [softly] "I've... always... been... [belted, full-out] '''SHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY''', I confess it, I'm '''SHYYYYYYYYY!!!'''"

A musical comedy that parodies the well-known story of "Literature/ThePrincessAndThePea", ''Once Upon a Mattress'' started as a Broadway play, then later appeared as a TV special (more than once). It premiered in 1959, with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. As Wiki/TheOtherWiki states, it's a popular choice for high school and community theater shows.

** "Throughout the land no one may wed / 'Til Dauntless to the altar's led."

* ProphecyTwist: Yes, they ''already'' tried breaking the King's curse with a big mouse and a small hawk, but it didn't work out. Instead [[spoiler: the curse is broken when the mouse(y) Prince Dauntless overcomes the hawk(ish) Queen Aggravaine.]]

* ShotgunWedding

** "Throughout the land no one may wed / 'Til Dauntless shares his wedding bed."

Its most prominent claim to fame is that it was the breakout role for actress Creator/CarolBurnett, who played Princess Winifred on Broadway, and appeared in several TV versions of the musical (first playing the princess, and then the Queen as she got older). One Broadway revival featured Sarah Jessica Parker in the role. Creator/TraceyUllman played her in the 2005 TV film, which premiered on ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents The Wonderful World of Disney]]''.

Its most prominent claim to fame is that it was the breakout role for actress Creator/CarolBurnett, who played Princess Winifred on Broadway, and appeared in several TV versions of the musical (first playing the princess, and then switched to playing the Queen as she got older). One Broadway revival featured Sarah Jessica Parker in the role. Creator/TraceyUllman played her in the 2005 TV film, which premiered on ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents The Wonderful World of Disney]]''.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: In disclosing her pregnancy, Larken implies that the baby was conceived on Whitsunday, and subsequently mentions that the baby is due in November. The problem: Whitsunday, also known as Pentecost, can occur on May 11 at the earliest, and usually occurs somewhat later, resulting in a six-month due date. So, it's either an example of this trope, perhaps combined with WritersCannotDoMath, or a case of GettingCrapPastTheRadar.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Several in "An Opening for a Princess", while the court is bemoaning the WedlockBlock:
** "None of the ladies are having any fun"
** "No one is getting any... younger"
** TheTalk song, with Sextimus describing sex in pantomime and/or sign language.
** Queen Aggravain's reaction to the pea in the 2005 television adaptation is a thinly veiled imitation of an orgasm.

A royal minstrel reveals to the audience that the princess and pea story they've all heard (and is recreated as an OpeningBallet) wasn't exactly what happened -- he was there and has firsthand knowledge of the truth. Queen Aggravain (whose husband King Sextimus was rendered virtually powerless after he rendered mute by a curse) was determined never to let her son Prince Dauntless the Drab marry, so she was constantly creating impossible tests for prospective princesses to pass before they could have his hand. To make matters worse, ''no one'' in the kindgom was allowed to wed until he was. Sir Harry, alas, had just learned that he and his sweetheart Lady Larken were expecting a child, so he headed out to find a princess who hadn't yet gone through the tests. He brought back the feisty swamp Princess Winifred the Wobegone -- "Fred" for short -- who instantly won Dauntless's heart. Now the evil Queen had to come up with an impossible test...

* TheTalk: Has its own musical number; unique in that the King can't speak, and has to do the whole thing in pantomime. Unfortunately, he fails the get the message across and in the end, he just pantomimes a DeliveryStork.