The Princess and the Pea

Published: April 24, 2008, 8:18 p.m.

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)