Video: Ana Gasteyer Reveals Pre-Show Ritual for ONCE UPON A MATTRESS

Broadway star and SNL alum Ana Gasteyer stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday to discuss her role as Queen Aggravain in the new production of Once Upon a Mattress, which is currently running on Broadway.

In the interview, the actress told Meyers about her early Broadway experiences as an audience member, having only seen two shows before regularly attending Broadway during her time on SNL.

"I saw Glengarry Glen Ross, the original production...and I saw Cats [with] an obscured view, behind a post...But then, after SNL I would go to shows [a lot]...I have boxes and boxes of Playbills," she admitted.

She went on to discuss the musical, which is popular in schools for its large cast. She revealed that she talked to her friends and fellow SNL castmates Rachel Dratch and Amy Poehler before accepting the role, both of whom had been in the show when they were in school.

She also shared her pre-show ritual which involves wearing a red-light mask she received as a gag gift on her 70th birthday. "I put it on and I wear it backstage. I look like sort of an older Key West gentleman working on their decolletage," she joked. Watch the full interview now!

Once Upon a Mattress returns to Broadway in a new adaptation by Emmy Award winner Amy Sherman-Palladino (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, “Gilmore Girls”), directed by Tony Award nominee and Drama League Award winner Lear deBessonet (Into The Woods). An uproarious update of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea,” Once Upon A Mattress sets an unapologetic free spirit loose in a repressed kingdom, where Winnifred the Woebegone charms, delights, and dances her way to the top… of a stack of mattresses.   Full of gloriously catchy melodies like “Shy” and “In a Little While,” the musical first premiered in 1959, with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer.

The new production of Once Upon a Mattress is a transfer of the record-breaking, sold-out run at New York City Center’s Encores! earlier this year. Foster will reprise her performance as Winnifred alongside Michael Urie as Prince Dauntless.

Once Upon A Mattress began previews on Broadway on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, and officially opened on Monday, August 12, 2024, for the limited engagement through November 30, 2024, at The Hudson Theatre.

Photo credit: Lloyd Bishop/NBC