Apr 24, 2008
So how did you sleep last night? Did a lump in your bed cause
you to toss and turn? If this is ever a problem, you should be
grateful that you're not as delicate as the princess in "The
Princess and the Pea", the story we present this week. This tale
was written by the celebrated Danish author Hans Christian Andersen
(1805-1875), although he probably based it on a genuine folklore
motif. First published in 1835, the story was immediately popular
and has been translated, adapted, retold and mangled many times
over the years. In 1959 the musical adaptation "Once Upon a
Mattress" opened on Broadway and became a smash hit, further
popularizing the tale. And more recently, a fractured version
called "The Princess and the Bowling Ball" appeared in "The Stinky
Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales".
As usual, however, we do not fracture this story, though we may
bruise it a bit. We always stay faithful to the original plot,
while injecting and infecting it with our own colorful style and
humor that will appeal to contemporary audiences. We enact this
story with our special guest Sarah, one of our "adopted daughters"
who's spending a week on the road with us. She's both a fellow
homeschooler and a fellow RVer. And no, our story choice was not
inspired by her own sleeping habits. She is not a princess, and in
fact could probably sleep on a bowling ball.
With Sarah in tow, we're having a busy April performing in Northern
California; we've been particularly in demand for National Library
Week. We've been revisiting our roots in the San Francisco Bay
Area, where we originated nearly 20 years ago. And where, once upon
a time, Kimberly was in a production of "Once Upon A Mattress".
Happy Listening!
Dennis (Prince), Kimberly (Princess, Royal Attendant), Zephyr
(King, Other Princesses) and Sarah (Queen, Other Princesses)