Once Upon A Mattress Review
Welcome back, Wildcats! This past week, the RHS Drama Club hit the stage with their spring musical, Once Upon A Mattress! I was there opening night, and they’ve really outdone themselves with this one. Having been to the past few shows, it’s easy to see that Mr. Mittleman gets more and more ambitious with each new performance, and with great results.
The basic rundown of the story is a fun take on the classic fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. This musical has been around for decades, and there’s been a few movie-musical productions if you’re interested in the show. A basic rundown, Princess Winifred (aka Fred) is the 13th princess to try and pass the mean Queen Aggravane’s unusual “royalty tests”. But Fred isn’t your average princess, and she’s determined to marry Prince Dauntless. In addition to this main plot line, there’s a couple of subplots, such as the lady-in-waiting, Lady Larken and the knight Sir Harry’s romance, or the friendship of the Jester, Minstrel, and the mute (and cursed) King Sextimus the Silent. All in all, it’s a fantastic show in general, and absolutely worth looking up.
Pictured: Mr. Mittleman and the cast of Once Upon a Mattress!
But looking at the Drama Club’s performance, how did they do? Personally, they absolutely killed it. Every actor was on point, and played their role, even when merely dancing in the background, to perfection. The vocal performances of each respective actor and actress was phenomenal, to the point where at least once in every song, I got chills. Not to mention senior Juhan Taylor as King Sextimus, who perfectly acted his character without a word.
The performance of senior Catherine Farrough, who played Lady Larken isn’t to be overlooked either. During the performance I watched, there was an issue with the mic she had, but despite having to deal with a faulty mic, her voice carried, high notes and all, to the back row where I was sitting. And of course, I can’t forget to talk about the lead, senior Mila Kaser, who played Princess Fred. There truly isn’t anyone more fit for the role than she is. One of her songs in particular, Happily Ever After, while being a difficult song to sing, was performed perfectly. The inflection, the power behind the voice, and the choreography were all of the highest quality.
In addition to these strong senior performers, many of the underclassmen, and some first time performers did amazing jobs as well. I could go on and on for pages talking about how great this show was, but unfortunately we don’t have the time. However, the Drama Club has one more performance this year, if you’d like to audition or go watch it. They’ll be doing The Rainbow Fish. If that doesn’t interest you, remember that next year the Drama Club will be back next year with another fall play and spring musical for all to enjoy. Till next time, goodbye and Go Wildcats (and congrats to Mr. Mittleman, and the cast and crew who worked on this amazing show)!
