Such is the case with Sutton Foster as the eccentric Princess Winnifred in the Encores! revival of “Once Upon a Mattress,” which opened Wednesday at City Center. The central role in this broadly goofy musical was exuberantly, indelibly originated by Carol Burnett in 1959. And Winnifred, described by another character as “a strangely energetic swamp girl,” is an ideal outlet for that sensibility. “Once Upon a Mattress” is nobody’s idea of a great musical, but it is many people’s idea of a fun one.

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Persons: Sutton Foster, Winnifred, Carol Burnett, Foster, — she’s, “ Sweeney Todd ”, Janet Van De Graaff, Reno Sweeney, Mary Rodgers’s Organizations: City Center, New York Times, Broadway, CBS Locations: “