Video: A preview of MHS production of ‘Once Upon a Mattress’
By Kirsten Traudt
For the first time in a decade, Morristown High School Theatre is returning to the Middle Ages.
The group, led by second-time Creative Director Michael Maguire, aims to surpass the high bar set by its fall production of A Christmas Carol with Once Upon a Mattress, a farcical retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Princess and the Pea.
Described by Maguire as “the only classic musical remembered for being funny,” Once Upon a Mattress has been produced twice on Broadway and remains one of the most-produced plays by amateur troupes.
The “real version” of the classic fairy tale, Mattress features an extensive and eccentric cast of characters well suited to the high school’s dynamic performing ensemble. Although some jokes may go over the heads of the youngest audience members, Mattress is a true family show that may be enjoyed by all ages.
Once Upon a Mattress
Morristown High School, 50 Early St.
April 1-2, 2016, at 7:30 pm, April 3 at 2 pm.
Tickets: $6-$12, online at mhstix.com or at the show.
Heading the cast is sophomore Kate Croonquist as the titular Princess Winnifred, who is anything but the typical royal. Raised in a swamp, she jokes, belts, and pratfalls her way through the role made famous by comedy legend Carol Burnett.
Her would-be husband, the hapless Prince Dauntless, is played by senior Nikolas Slackman, and fellow senior Kirsten Traudt plays Queen Aggravain, his devious and doting mother.
Rounding out the principal cast are sophomore Hugh Grennan as the chivalrous Sir Harry (the role that Maguire himself played in the 2006 MHS production of the play), junior Alexandra Monfalcone as his fiancée in distress, Lady Larkin; and the “triple threat” of Jeremy Palmer, Victoria Fanning and Liam Mejia as the Minstrel, the Jester, and the mute King Sextimus.
Other performances to watch are junior Steven Blenner as a wizard with a (not quite) hidden past and Alexandra Fielding as the flirtatious Lady Mabelle.
This new production seeks to put a twist on what is, according to Maguire, “the show that everyone has either seen or been in.”
The set, designed by MHS parent Michael Hession, exceeds even the ambition of A Christmas Carol, featuring 20-foot towers, half a dozen staircases, and an exposed moat in the orchestra pit.
The 20-piece student orchestra, headed by music director and MHS alum David Gallagher, is housed in the castle itself, on platforms six feet above the stage. A thrilling prologue, which features a stage combat scene performed by assistant stage managers Katherine Crofford and Jayson Butts, also has been added.
Yet even amid the spectacle of the set, the directing team, which includes Stage Director Katie Adams and Production Manager Ralph Losanno (who both appeared in Mattress as students at Bernards High School) and Backstage Manager Scott Hansen, has not lost sight of the two things that make the show special: Character and comedy.
“In every show, everybody falls in love with one character,” Adams explains, “but in this one, they won’t even be able to choose.”
Kirsten Traudt is a senior at Morristown High School, where she is an actress and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Broadcaster. She also was a prize-winner at the 2013 MorristownGreen.com Film Festival.
Video: MHS Preview of Once Upon a Mattress
