By Sara Kaplow (March 14, 2002)

What do you get when you combine a bossy queen, a quirky princess, a mute king, ten mattresses, and a pea? This year’s musical, Once Upon a Mattress. The show is based upon the classic tale of the Princess and the Pea, but with some interesting additions to the story. For starters, there wasn’t just one princess that tried out to be the bride of the prince; there were twelve. And the story just escalates from there. 

Toby Nelson stars as Winnifred, the offbeat princess from the swamps who has come to take the test to marry the prince, Dauntless, played by Chris Sabbatini. In order to marry Dauntless, Fred has to pass the test designed by the prince’s mother, Queen Aggravain, played by Kate O’Hara. In the role of Dauntless’ father is Sam Aydelette, the appropriately titled King Sextumus the Silent. 

Add into this mix a love story between two members of the royal court, Lady Larken and Sir Harry, played by Dena Adriance and Rich Heuple respectively, and you’ve almost got the gist of this play. Last minute replacement Christine Piscopo has taken over the role of the jester, with Galen Messing playing her dancing father. Completing the court are the Wizard, played by Jon Tonkowich, and the traveling minstrel, Melissa Rose-McCully. 

This child’s fairy tale is shown in a new light in the GMHS auditorium this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 7:30 PM and on Sunday at 2:00 PM. You may be pleasantly surprised at the "true" story of the Princess and the Pea, as directed by Mr. Frank Marino and the theatre department. The music for the show is courtesy of Ms. Webster and an assortment of band and orchestra students, and as usual, Mr. Ballou and the stage crew have created the elaborate sets required for this production. Price is $5 for the public, $3 for students for this classic musical that decades ago on Broadway propelled a then unknown actresss named Carol Burnett to the stars.