Lexington Park, MD – The two-act musical comedy, Once Upon A Mattress, opened with the Newtowne Players at the Three Notch Theatre in Lexington Park on Friday, July 7 and will run through July 30. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances begin at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees begin at 3:30 p.m. For tickets and information you may contact: (301)737-5447, or www.newtowneplayers.org. The Three Notch Theatre is located at 21744 S. Coral Drive in Lexington Park, MD.
With music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller and Marshall Barer, the setting for this adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea, is fifteenth-century Europe. The beloved well-known tale undergoes some creative tweaks in this re-telling.
Once Upon a Mattress was first performed on May 11, 1959 off-Broadway and then moved to several different theatres on Broadway. Carol Burnett originated the role of Princess Winnifred, a role that “made” her career. For those who can remember that far back, Carol Burnett was working on the old Gary Moore TV show during the day, and performing Once Upon a Mattress at night. The musical earned Tony nominations for Best Musical and for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Three TV adaptations were made: the 1954 version starred Carol Burnett as Princess Winnifred; the 1972 version starred Miss Burnett as Winnifred and Bernadette Peters as Lady Larken. The 2005 version starred Carol Burnett as the Queen, Tracey Ullman as Winnifred, and Zooey Deschanel as Larken.
Under the “happily-ever-after”-inspired direction of NTP veteran Stacy Oosterink, this delightful fairy tale is brought vividly to life by the talented ensemble. Jeff Maher as a Knight of the Realm, delivers opening announcements as the show begins. The royally costumed ensemble—thanks to Dawn Weber, costumer, and NTP’s artistic director—is seen in tableau as Minstrel Sean Scribner gives us the backdrop of the story in “Many Moons Ago.” Sean employs a smooth tenor sound with well-controlled pianissimo singing – this is the very best this reviewer has ever heard him sing. The chorus displays a strong blend of sound and clear diction throughout the evening and fills the stage with colorful activity.
Three young children charmingly pantomime the Minstrel’s narration which forecasts the storyline. Carson Allee, age 9, is entering 4th grade at Chesapeake Public Charter School (CPCS); Piper Allee is 7 and will enter second grade at CPCS; she studies dance at Ballet Caliente; Kayleigh Teston will be a second-grader at Greenview Knolls Elementary School.
The audience comes upon events as Princess #12 is being tested by the Queen to see if she’s a real princess, real enough to marry Prince Dauntless. Once a suitable princess is found for the prince, then all of the waiting-in-line-to-wed couples in the Kingdom will be granted permission to marry as well. NTP veteran Tim Joyce is the convincingly pampered, pouty Prince Dauntless who is totally dominated by his mother, the Queen.
Dauntless’ brother, Prince Harry (Brandon Maher) is in love with Lady Larken (the lovely Laura Ponturiero). This couple has a particular urgency for wanting to marry, expressed in their pleasing duet, “In a Little While.”
The scene-stealing Queen (Janet Baker) delivers her hilarious monologue to explain that yes, she does want Prince Dauntless to marry, while sharing scene-stealing credits with the mute King Sextimus (NTP veteran actor Aaron Meisinger). The role of the Queen is terrifically plummy; Ms. Baker is obviously enjoying every second of interpreting this devilish character!
But the ultimate scene-stealing award belongs to Madelyn Oosterink as Princess Winnifred the Woebegone. Maddie was originally slated as assistant director for this production and on only 10 days’ notice stepped into this role. She makes a formidable impression on both the kingdom and the audience with “Shy” and seems born to play Winnifred. From her first onstage gurgle to her very last snore, she clearly owns this lovable role. She reveals herself to be quite the deft comedienne. Aubrey Joyce, the show’s original Winnifred and fiancée of Timothy Joyce, most likely shared a unique stage chemistry with the Prince; however, Miss Oosterink and Mr. Joyce seem to be perfectly paired and create their own special rapport as Prince and Princess.( Miss Joyce is expected to return as Winnifred towards the end of the production’s run.) Perceptive Princess Winnifred sees immediately that Dauntless likes her, but she thinks everyone in this Kingdom is “nuts”, and goes off to swim the moat – again. The Minstrel, the Jester (Carlton Silvestro) and King comprise an entertaining comic trio engaging in shenanigans designed to outsmart and mock the Queen. The control-obsessed Queen and her Wizard (Colin Maher, appearing in his 4th NTP show)) hatch a fiendish plan to thwart Winnifred’s quest to marry the Prince by devising an unfair “sensitivity” test for her. Winnifred wistfully reminisces about her native land in “The Swamps of Home”, supported by a women’s trio.
The plot becomes more complicated as the King, Jester, and Minstrel step up to help Lady Larken escape from the Kingdom after her fight with Prince Harry (“Normandy”). After a wild time of dancing the Spanish Panic at the Ball, Prince Dauntless and Winnifred (who prefers to be called by her nickname, “Fred”) sing “Song of Love” – a cumulative song that serves as the Act I Finale.
Ladies-in-Waiting to the Queen are: Sophie Campbell, Jennifer Drake (Lady Lucille),Kristina Faison, Trinity Helm, Rebekah Jarboe, Sarah Lorek (Lady Rowena), Blake Meyer, Ginger Serafin and Kathleen Weber (Lady Merrill).
Serving as Knights of the Realm are: Ken Bongiovanni, Kenny Faison, Mason Goddard, Matthew Howe, Michael Sokoloff and Jeff Weber.
Kudos to Music Director Kylie Oosterink and Assistant Music Director Hunter Martin for their remarkable job of coordinating the singers and the musicians for this production. The musicians are: Diane Trautman, piano; Hunter Martin and Brittany Lynn, tuba; Paige Marino and Erica Fischer, clarinet; Matt Marshall, bass clarinet; and Brian Moore and Andrew Bowles, drums.
Additional Production Staff members are: Robin Finnacom, producer; Tom McCarthy, set designer; Jenny Meisinger and Beth Sanford, properties; and Dawna Diaz, expert stage manager.
Be sure to make reservations in advance; this show is likely to be sold out. To paraphrase Artistic Director Dawn Weber’s program notes: leave your cares and worries…and escape to this kingdom…to discover, as Hans Christian Andersen once wrote, that “Life itself, is a wonderful fairytale.”
