Once Upon A Mattress Leaves You Humming

by Jennifer Barkenhagen, Freedom High School

Here ye, here ye! All Lords and Ladies are suggested to see ‘Once Upon A Mattress’ performed by Ye Olde Cypress Creek High School!

Once Upon A Mattress is the story of a Prince’s search for a suitable wife and the trouble his mother causes in this task. Queen Aggravain insists that her son have a wife who is a ‘proper princess’, and therefore sets amazingly hard tasks to each of Prince Dauntless’ choices. Since none of the subjects are allowed to have romantic relations before the Prince is married, when Sir Harry and Lady Larken find out they’re having a baby, they must help with the search. Sir Harry goes on a quest to find a true princess and returns with Princess Winifred (Fred for short). She is anything but what the Queen wants, but the Prince falls for her immediately. The Queen decides to test her ‘sensitivity’. To do this she tires the princess out, then places a pea underneath 20 mattresses, saying that if she can sleep then she isn’t a true princess, because a true princess couldn’t sleep on a lumpy mattress. Through a few tricks, the princess passes and the whole kingdom rejoices.

Cypress Creek’s show was lively and fun, and the energy anchored the show. It was clear that many of the actors put a lot of time into their parts. Francisco Santelli did a great job with selling his character as Prince Dauntless, and his voice was among the best in the show. Caitlin Mahoney’s Queen Aggravain was fun to watch and very convincing. Kelseanne Breder in the role of Princess Winifred was funny, and her energy flew off the stage. Kira Disen as Lady Larken did a fantastic job with her songs, and her emotion was very real. The ensembles were good, although the dancing could have been crisper. The cast exuded energy, and that really brought the show up.

There were sound issues throughout the show, but the set was well thought out. The reusable pieces were efficient and made for a nice change of scenery, and the castle looked like something right out of a storybook. The rising curtain added to that royal atmosphere.

Cypress Creek did a good job with this show. The energy was high and the feel of the show was great. I left happy and humming, which is definitely how I like to leave musicals.

Originally published in the Backstage Noise, Spring 2006