Hank Lawson and his wife, Marcia, met when they were acting in a production of the musical Brigadoon with the West Valley Light Opera back in 1980.

Today, their children are following in their footsteps, and Hank can be seen on the WVLO stage with another member of his family--his 17-year-old daughter, Jillian. Hank and Jillian play two of the lead roles in WVLO's production of the classic musical, Once Upon A Mattress, which was the springboard to stardom for Carol Burnett when it debuted on Broadway.

Once Upon A Mattress is a comical, musical version of the centuries-old fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. It tells the story of sweet Princess Winnifred, who's actually a bit clumsy and loud-mouthed and comes from a kingdom in the swamps. Jillian plays the role of Winnifred, the role once mastered by Burnett. In another nearby kingdom, a not-so-nice queen needs to find a wife for her young son, the prince. So, Winnifred makes the journey to meet the young prince. However, when she shows up, the queen does not think she is good enough for her only son. So, she enlists the help of the castle wizard, played by Hank, to design a test to determine her worthiness--a test so impossible, Winnifred could never pass. They come up with the test of placing a tiny pea underneath 100 mattresses for the princess to sleep on. If she is a true, worthy princess, she will feel the pea. The story is full of comedy as the young prince and princess try to come together, and their parents keep getting in the way.

"The actual story is great because it takes an old story and makes it kind of a fractured fairy tale. There's lots of room for physical comedy and gags. I've thrown in elements of the Marx brothers and things like that," says Jeff Hicks, the show's director. "It's farcical in nature, so hopefully there's a lot of good laughs for everybody. That's what I've enjoyed about this production; we've had the opportunity to work with a lot of gags."

Hicks says after directing WVLO's production of Flower Drum Song last season, the comedy in Once Upon A Mattress is a welcome change of pace, and working with such a talented family as the Lawsons is also a fortunate blessing.

"They are very professional," Hicks says. "Hank and Jillian are always on the ball and take their characters where they feel they should go, and they always give 110 percent. That's what's been great about working with them."

Hank says finding out WVLO was putting on a production of Once Upon A Mattress was exciting news.

"Once Upon A Mattress is a dear show for me; it was the first show I ever did back in eighth-grade, some 36 years ago. So when it came around, I said, 'Oh, that's the show I want to do.' "

Hank set to work convincing his daughter Jillian to do it with him. Jillian wasn't quite sure she could fit it into her busy schedule of studying hard and applying to colleges, not to mention already starring in the musical 42nd Street at St. Francis High School, where she is a senior.

"I always thought Jillian would be great as Princess Winnifred, so I convinced her to come audition," Hank says. "And I was right; she's doing a bang-up job. People say I look like the proud papa. When she was auditioning, I was beaming on the sidelines as I watched; even the director noticed."

Jillian says Once Upon A Mattress makes for long days--after school, she rehearses in 42nd Street until 6 p.m., and then has to head over to the Civic Theatre to rehearse with WVLO until 10 or 11 p.m. Nonetheless, she's glad her father convinced her to do the show.

"I've always wanted to play Winnifred," says Jillian, happy that she finally got her chance. "She's a lot like me, so it's fun to be crazy like she is. She's loud and outgoing and really friendly to everybody."

Jillian says she hopes theater can become her career.

"I've pretty much done theater my whole life. I really like being on stage and performing for people. I've done it so long, it's what I'm good at now, and it's fun to do what you're good at," she says. "I plan on majoring in theater in college. I'd really like to go to Pepperdine, or Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles."

Hank, on the other hand, enjoys being what he calls a "gypsy"--bouncing around from theater to theater, participating in whichever show seems to call his name. In addition to WVLO, he has done shows with Foothill College, the Saratoga Drama Group and the Sunnyvale Community Players. When he's not doing theater, he can be found coaching track at Lynbrook High School.

Hicks says audiences are sure to love Once Upon A Mattress, and will get a kick out of Jillian and Hank as the father-daughter team playing the princess and the wizard.

"Jill is fabulous; she's young and really commands the stage. I think she gets that from her father," he says. "They're both really strong on stage. And we have a great set and great costumes. The show just looks great."

'Once Upon A Mattress' is presented by the West Valley Light Opera at the Saratoga Civic Theatre, 13777 Fruitvale Ave., Fridays through Sundays until April 8. Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8 p.m., Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. One Saturday matinee is offered on March 25 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $24 for evening performances and $22 for matinees. For more information or to purchase, call the box office at 408.268.3777 or visit www.wvlo.org.