“SNL ”alum Ana Gasteyer's pre-show ritual for “Once Upon a Mattress ”would 'scare children'
"I look like sort of an older Key West gentleman working on their décolletage."
Long live the red light queen!
Saturday Night Live alum Ana Gasteyer’s pre-show ritual for her role as Queen Aggravain in the Broadway revival of Once Upon a Mattress leaves her looking like a slightly different kind of royalty.
As Gasteyer shared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she straps on a red light therapy device after she’s in full hair and makeup for the role, which she describes as “a cross between Miranda Priestly and a ghost.”
The end result is... distinctive.
“I look like sort of an older Key West gentleman working on their décolletage,” she told fellow SNL alum Seth Meyers.
The Instagram photo showing her queenly self in the glowing red chest plate caught the attention of the manufacturer, and Gasteyer gave Omnilux permission to share it on their own socials.
“Four seconds later, it shows up in my feed as an ad for this product but not really explaining why I’m dressed as an elderly male queen backstage,” Gasteyer told Meyers. “It just says ‘Ana Gasteyer rocking the look!’”
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Meyers also shared photos of Gasteyer in a red light therapy face mask with its distinctive red glow, which he called a "worse" look than the chest device. "You do that to scare the children," Gasteyer said.
The cutout for the nose prompted Meyers to ask, “They want it to look like balls?”
Late Night with Seth Meyers/Youtube
Ana Gasteyer in her red light therapy face mask“As I said, it’s gentleman aspirant,” Gasteyer replied. She also suggested that she and Meyers should’ve arranged for an Oprah-style giveaway. “Your audience would love a décolletage product.”
Meyers immediately jumped in with an exuberant, “You’re not getting one and you’re not getting one and you’re not getting one!”
Related: Once Upon a Mattress review: Sutton Foster is the crown jewel in jovial Broadway revival
The latest iteration of the musical spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Princess and the Pea opened last month for a limited engagement at the Hudson Theatre with updates to its book courtesy of Emmy-winning Gilmore Girls and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator Amy Sherman-Palladino.
Joan Marcus
Ana Gasteyer, Michael Urie, Will Chase, and Nikki Renee Daniels in 'Once Upon A Mattress'The show also stars Sutton Foster as “strangely energetic swamp girl” Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, Michael Urie as the hapless Prince Dauntless the Drab, and Nikki Renée Daniels as Lady Larken.
Once Upon a Mattress runs through Nov. 30 before hopping coasts to open at the Los Angeles Ahmanson Theatre on Dec. 10.
Watch Gasteyer talking to Meyers about her whole pre-show ritual in the video above.
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