Word: mattress
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ONCE UPON A MATTRESS was a vehicle for Carol Burnett, who used the leading role of Princess Winifred the Woebegone as a stepping stone to television immortality. The show is based on the fairy tale of the princess whose royal lineage is proven when a pea lying beneath 20 mattresses disturbs her sleep. The show's one-dimensional fairy tale plot exaggerates the frothy, cute tendencies inherent in most American musical comedies. With minimal character development and a score which also lacks distinction, the play depends on a showcase of individual talents rather than the merits of a coherent story...
...shallow plot of Mattress breeds shallow characterizations. A gaggle of supporting actors is thus given freedom to attempt to steal the show, and two in particular come very close to succeeding. Peter Grand turns in a sparkling performance as the Wizard, a show-biz type turned minister. In the first act, he offers a frighteningly accurate imitation of Bob Ewbank, host of the Newlywed Game. And he walks off with the second act by virtue of an impressive display of magic tricks...
...production has to break even. While production values are uneven, the acting in the Houses is of as high a quality as you'll find elsewhere-in thz University. Another advantage is spontaneity--no need to buy tickets in advance, since there are no reserved seats. Once Upon a Mattress will be at Leverett this fall; look out also for Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at Kirkland...
...eight-hour discourse on tantrism, the most magical form of Mahayana Buddhism. Renunciation, enlightened motive and a correct understanding of sunyata (nothingness) are the three prerequisites for the tantric practice, he explained. Disciples were given two reeds to sleep on, one under the pillow, the other under the mattress, and instructed to remember their dreams so the Dalai Lama could interpret them during the ceremony. On the platform were two ever present reminders of tantric practice: a statue of Kay-Dor, a ferocious manifestation of the Buddha, and an elaborate mandala, a ritual design used in invocations, made...
...telephone hot line for patients," which enables them to call direct from their rooms to the hospital service manager if a bulb burns out or the kitchen is late in delivering dinners ordered from one of the seven different room-service menus. Says Rabkin: "I have seen a lumpy mattress replaced within 20 minutes of the hotline call...