History

In the summer of 1958 at a resort in the Poconos called Camp Taminent, three young writers (composer Mary Rodgers and lyricist/librettists Marshall Barer and Jay Thompson) adapted Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea” for a week-long run. This one-act musical proved so popular that it was snapped up by producers for a commercial run in New York.
By the time it opened off-Broadway in May of 1959 at the Phoenix Theatre, the show had acquired an additional author, Dean Fuller, a new director, a second act, and a new title: Once Upon a Mattress.