Amy Sherman-Palladino and Sutton Foster Talk Frauds, Outsiders, and Their New Show

Amy Sherman-Palladino and Sutton Foster can’t talk trash. At least, not for the next 45 minutes, anyway. The pair are currently catching up on a Zoom call with Vanity Fair to discuss their new Broadway show Once Upon a Mattress. Foster is at home in New York City, where, in a few short hours, she’ll don Princess Fred’s wig (complete with grime and moss) for that evening’s performance. Meanwhile, Sherman-Palladino is riding shotgun next to her husband and collaborator, Dan Palladino, en route to Long Island to start edits on their upcoming show Étoile. “Don’t say anything bad about me,” Palladino shouts from behind the steering wheel. “Alright, I’ll hold back,” says Foster, to which Sherman-Palladino quips: “We’ll have to do it on a different phone call.”

Sutton Foster and Company in Once Upon A Mattress.Joan Marcus

Foster and Sherman-Palladino have been working together for over a decade, first pirouetting their way through 2012’s single season of Bunheads, which Sherman-Palladino cocreated, wrote, and directed, and Foster starred in. Then came 2016’s Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. And now it’s Once Upon a Mattress, the 1959 musical spin on “The Princess and the Pea” that centers on the aforementioned brash and independent Princess Winnifred (Fred for short)—a role originated by Carol Burnett in her first star turn on Broadway, and now held by Foster. Once Upon a Mattress is Sherman-Palladino’s own Broadway debut, having adapted the original book, written by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. (After concluding its off-Broadway run at NYC’s City Center back in February, the show is currently at Manhattan’s Hudson Theatre.)

“First of all, you don’t say no to Sutton Foster,” Sherman-Palladino explains on taking the leap to Broadway. “That’s important. I learned that a long time ago.” Foster’s Mattress costars include Michael Urie and Ana Gasteyer. “I’ve known for a long time that Sutton is half-Muppet. Jim Henson is stamped on her ass somewhere,” she says, while Foster laughs. “Watching Sutton perform is one of the greatest joys of my life. There’s so much that she can do, and I still think people haven’t seen a quarter of what is in her,” Sherman-Palladino continues. “I think there are certain talents that come along once-in-a-lifetime, and I have been very privileged to be along for the Sutton Foster ride. I will hang onto her coattails for as long as I can, until my arthritis makes me let go.”

Here, the two discuss how the show came to be, their collaborative partnership, and also jazzercise.

Vanity Fair: Amy, what made you want to adapt Once Upon a Mattress?

Amy Sherman-Palladino: Sutton’s text that said, “Hey, do you want to adapt Once Upon a Mattress?” And I went, “Okay.” I drive a hard bargain. It has to be, at least, a five-word text.

Look, I will do anything for Sutton. If Sutton said, “You need to murder these people,” I wouldn’t ask why.

Quite frankly, there’s not a lot of thoughtful comedy parts for women out there, but this felt natural. In the line of comedians, it’s Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, and Sutton Foster—they are the holy trio. It just seemed like a no-brainer. Then I forgot to tell my agents, and they got some sort of deal memo, and they called me in a panic. They’re like, “You agreed to this, and I don’t know if you know it’s a City Center show, so you’re only going to get three cents and a water bottle.” And I’m like, “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s fine.” They’re like, “But we can maybe go back…” I’m like, “You’re not going to go back. It’s City Center. I’m glad they have a curtain. Let’s do this. It’s Sutton. What are you talking about? Go away. Go back to the San Vicente bungalows, and enjoy yourselves there.” So, it became this really fun thing that I could do for my girl, and then, suddenly, it’s going to Broadway, and I’m like, “Oh, shit. Okay. I’m going to have to shave my legs for that one.” That’s the long, complicated journey of me doing Mattress.

Sutton Foster, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and Ana GasteyerJoan Marcus