Photo Flash: Jackie Hoffman, Danny Burstein & More in Transport Group's ONCE UPON A MATTRESS Benefit

Transport Group, the Drama Desk, Outer Critics, and OBIE award-winning theatre company, just presented a one-night-only, all-star concert of the acclaimed 1959 Broadway classic musical Once Upon A Mattress at the The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre in The Pershing Square Signature Center. Leading the company were Jackie Hoffman as Princess Winnifred and John "Lypsinka" Epperson as Queen Aggravain with Danny Burstein (Follies) as King Sextimus, Tony nominee John Cariani (Fiddler on the Roof) as The Jester, Jill Paice (Curtains) as Lady Larken, Drama Desk nominee Lewis Cleale (The Book of Mormon) as Sir Harry, OBIE winner Jonathan Hammond (The Boys in the Band) as The Wizard, Stanley Bahorek (Queen of the Mist) as The Minstrel, and Drama Desk nominee David Rossmer (Peter and the Starcatcher) as Prince Dauntless. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the special concert below!

In the fairy-tale world of Once Upon A Mattress, King Sextimus is unable to speak and his terror of a wife, Queen Aggravian, has taken over control of the kingdom. Most importantly, in an attempt to keep Prince Dauntless single, she has decreed that only the princess that can pass her test may marry her son. Further, no one else in the kingdom may marry until Prince Dauntless does. Lady Larken and Sir Harry are extremely disturbed by this fact since Lady Larken is now pregnant with Sir Harry's baby. Luckily, Sir Harry is able to find an amazing princess, Winnifred the Woebegone. Winnifred instantly catches the attention of Prince Dauntless, and in the end, is able to pass the Queen's supposedly impassable sensitivity test. When the Queen still tries to prevent Prince Dauntless from marrying, he tells her to 'shut up' which ends up breaking the curse on the King. Now able to speak, King Sextimus regains his rightful position as leader of the kingdom, and all live happily ever after.

Once Upon A Mattress is a musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It opened off-Broadway in May, 1959, and then moved to Broadway, opening in November of 1959. The musical was written as an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. The show made an instant star of Carol Burnett who originated the role of Princess Winnifred. Once Upon A Mattress received two Tony Award nominations, one for Burnett and the other for Best Musical. Three television adaptations followed the original production, two with Burnett reprising her role and the other as recent as 2005 starring Tracey Ullman as Winnifred and Burnett this time playing The Queen.

Photo Credit: Brian Gustaveson