Once Upon A Mattress

Music by Mary Rodgers
Lyrics by Marshall Barer
Book by Jay Thompson, Marshall Barer, and Dean Fuller

Performed
August 13-16, 19-23, 2003
at
The Boal Barn Playhouse

Production Staff

DirectorElaine C. Meder
Music DirectorRussell Bloom
ChoreographerLoren Groenendaal
Scenic DesignerBrandon Phillips
Costume DesignerEdna M. Immel
Technical DirectorSteve McGuire
Lighting DesignerAmanda B. Huckabee
Stage ManagerErin Albrecht
Apprentice CoordinatorWilliam C. Mulberger

About the Show

Round up the characters of a fairy-tale and you get the usual suspects: a King, a Queen, a Prince, a Princess, a Minstrel, a Wizard, and assorted knights and ladies. There they all are in Once Upon a Mattress, the musical based on “The Princess and the Pea”. The minstrel retells the familiar story but then says that version is not quite accurate. Blackout! Lights! And things were never quite the same again in Fairy-Tale land. Queen Aggravain – sounds like a headache – will allow no one at court to marry until her son is wed, but no woman is good enough for him (mothers in the audience will sympathize with that). The King can’t get a word in; he’s speechless but awfully good at charades. Prince Dauntless – no Prince Charming he – is henpecked and he’s not even married. The Wizard should turn in his union card. Lady Larken, dare I say it, is pregnant, and gulp, unmarried. Is this an x-rated fairy tale? Winnifred, the princess from a distant land – swamplands in this case – lets Dauntless use her nickname, no, not Winnie but Fred! Ye gads! The next thing you know we’ll be calling Cinderella Ella or Cindi with an “i”! When I tell you that Carol Burnett created the role of Winnifred, you’ll know what to expect. We are in parodyville. Mattress is as light as a souffle, often witty, never to be taken seriously. Unlike Rodgers and Hammerstein’s TV Cinderella, which is straightforward and staid, Mattress is irreverent. Even the title, a twist on fairy tale openings, is slightly risque. This is a fairy-tale for adults, but kids will love Fred’s antics. Mary Rodgers who wrote the score is Richard Rodger’s daughter, and her son, Adam Guettel, Richard’s grandson, wrote the 1996 musical Floyd Collins. The sound of music runs in the family. Once Upon a Mattress may not be on the same level as The Golden Apple, the Moross-Latouche musical that satirizes the Ulyssees myth, or Into the Woods, Sondheim’s take on fairy tales. But it is much more fun!

Richard Gidez for SCCT

The Cast

(in order of appearance)
MinstrelBrett P. Keith
Prologue PrinceSteve McGuire
Prologue QueenAmelia McGinnis
Prologue PrincessRachel Barthmaier
Princess No. 12Courtney Kaufman
WizardMichael Martin
Lady LarkenKristen A. McKee
Queen AggravainDebbie Meder
Prince DauntlessBrian Winnie
King Sextimus the Silent Allan W. Osborne
JesterLuke Fox
Sir StudleyKen Wozetek
Sir LuceJames C. Hall
Lady RowenaAbby Minor
Lady MarillAmelia McGinnis
Lady LucilleAlexa Krepps
Sir HartyScott Miller
Kitchen WenchKelley Edwards
Princess WinnifredJill Pakulski
Sir HaroldSteve Mcguire
Lady BeatriceAlli Walz
Lady MabelleRachel Barthmaier
Nightingale of SamarkanEva Heppelmann
Ladies in WaitingRachel Barthmaier
Kelley Edwards
Eva Heppelmann
Courtney Kaufman
Caryl Schumacher
Kim Silverman
Allison Walz
KnightsJason Lally
G. Eric McGinnis
Steve McGuire
Will Mills
Tom Pogue