Once Upon a Fred

A typical scene when we're out in the garden these days.
Three cats practicing ignoring each other.

Fred has settled into the house. Surprising to think that she's only been around for three months -- it seems like longer. She's been to the vet and is healthy and in good condition, and I've made her legal by registering her with the county -- tags, rabies shots and all.

Fred helping with the gardening. She's good at digging and compost.

The receptionist at the veterinarian gave me some joshing grief about naming the female cat, "Fred", so I cast about for a proper name for her, knowing that we'd continue to call her Fred/Fredness no matter what. After some thought, I remembered the princess-heroine of Once Upon a Mattress.

For those who may not know this marvelous musical re-telling of the old fairy tale The Princess and the Pea, it's about a Queen who is determined not to have her son marry (in which case, she'd have to give up the power of the throne). So she sets impossible tasks on the potential princess-brides, and effectively keeps her son single. Then one day, a ragged, hard-edged, brash and brave young woman swims across the moat, climbs the castle walls and stakes her claim to the Prince. The Prince is smitten; the Queen takes one look at the girl and decides to prove she's not a real princess. She is to sleep that night on a bed of a zillion mattresses, with a pea underneath the bottom one. If she's a true Princess, she will be unable to sleep, due to the bump caused by the pea.

Fred in the roses.

Meanwhile, one young couple in the court have discovered that they urgently need to have the Prince married (the Queen has ruled that no one can be married before the Prince -- musical logic -- and the dallying girl of the couple is pregnant). So, that night, they sneak every piece of armor into the bed of the visiting "Princess", just to make sure that she has a rough night. And indeed, she doesn't sleep a wink, the Queen is over-ruled, the Prince and the Princess marry and all is happy.

Fred arrived, growling and brash, and then slept for 9 days and nights (on a soft cushion, no peas, no armor). And then I figured out that the heroine of Once Upon a Mattress is named -- wait for it -- Winnifred the Woebegone! Definitely Kismet.

Here's a snippet of the version I remember, starring Carol Burnett (warning, blurry image). It was a popular show in the 1960's and 70's. I was Assistant Director when my high school performed it in 1979 (I wanted to play the Queen, but had laryngitis during auditions), but I haven't heard much of the show since then. Apparently there was a movie made in 2005, but I haven't heard a peep about it. I wonder if the musical has dated badly, perhaps? Or is just one of those things that is out of fashion now, but will come in again when the wheel turns.