Beth Burrows and Theo Toksvig-Stewart To Star In ONCE UPON A MATTRESS At The Gatehouse

Once Upon a Mattress opens Upstairs at the Gatehouse in March 2020. Returning to the Gatehouse with another classic musical rarely seen in London, Mark Giesser steps back into the director's chair for his new production of Once Upon A Mattress, the first musical by Mary Rodgers, daughter of legendary musical composer Richard Rodgers.

Starring Offie-nominee Beth Burrows as Princess Winnifred, in her fourth collaboration with Mark Giesser (Strike Up the Band, The Lady With a Dog, Sirens of the Silver Screen), playing alongside Julia Faulkner (Gangsta Granny, Heartbreak Productions) as Queen Aggravain and Theo Toksvig-Stewart (Endless Second, Theatre 503/Pleasance Theatre/Park Theatre; Eastenders, BBC) as Prince Dauntless.

Many moons ago, in a far-off place, begins a magical musical comedy journey into the world of Hans Christian Andersen's beloved story of the princess and the pea. But this isn't your usual fairy tale, and Princess Winnifred isn't your usual fairy-tale princess. The kingdom in which she seeks her prince seethes with a very adult problem, which won't end until a very stubborn Queen Aggravain allows her son to marry. Alas, he is his mother's prince, and is any princess really good enough?

Mark is joined by choreographer Chris Whittaker (Shaftesbury, Savoy and Novello Theatres, Chichester Festival Theatre, Offie 2018 for Top Hat at the Gatehouse), musical director Jessica Douglas (York Grand Opera House, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, and the John Cooper Studio Theatre) and designer, Giulia Scrimieri (Game of Thrones, Vikings; Sadlers Wells; Royal Opera House; and the Southbank Centre).

The full cast includes Steve Watts (Merrily We Roll Along, Watermill Theatre; A Midsummer Night's Dream, Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Rachael Louise Miller (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Bill Kenwright; Angelina Ballerina; ITV); Matthew James Willis (Top Hat, Upstairs at the Gatehouse; Curtain Up!, Prince Edward Theatre); Rachel Lea-Gray (Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, Criterion Theatre); John Sears (Gigi, Tabard Theatre; Death in the Family); Courtney Hammond (Billy Ellliot, Victoria Palace Theatre; Scrooge, Bill Kenwright); and Scott Armstrong (Motown - The Musical, Adam Spiegel Productions; The Gruffalo, Tall Stories/Kenny Wax, Ltd.).

Mark Giesser will also be returning to Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Autumn 2020 with Irving Berlin's Call Me Madam, which will be on sale further into 2020.