Thursday, April 17, 2008; Page GZ08
The Washington Post
A classic fairy tale was revived last weekend with Rockville High School's "Once Upon A Mattress," a musical retelling of the children's story "The Princess and the Pea."
In the musical, the young Prince Dauntless (Eric Alexander) is desperately searching for a princess to marry, but his mother, Queen Aggravaine (Tory Shreffler), thwarts every chance for her son to get married. To complicate things more, no one in the kingdom is allowed to get married until the prince has a wife. So one day, the brave knight Sir Harry (Peter English) brings a strange young woman, Princess Winifred (Paris Ford), to the kingdom. Almost immediately, the prince decides that he likes her. However, the queen doesn't and she gives the girl a test to see whether she is worthy of marriage to the prince. The queen devises a sensitivity test to see whether the princess can sleep on a bed of 20 mattresses, with a small pea hidden beneath.
The cast worked well together to put on a great show. Ford led the way with a strong overall performance that made the strange, witty and "shy" Princess Winifred a joy to watch in every scene. There were other standout performances from Shreffler as Queen Aggravaine, Callie Ingram as Lady Larken, David Forgy as the mute but hilarious King Sextimus and Rebecca Claborn and Amy Broadbent, who sang together in perfect harmony. There were a few difficulties with the microphones, but the cast could be heard clearly. Many of the show's other technical aspects were impressive. A number of sets, which included castle walls, the 20-mattress bed and a large transparent backdrop, enhanced the overall look and feel of the show. In addition, the pit orchestra played well and did not overpower the cast.
Overall, a talented cast with a great technical crew came together to put on a wonderful rendition of the fairy tale.
Ian Kyle
Col. Zadok Magruder High School
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Student Review: Rockville's Wonderful Fairytale
Once upon a time there was an ensemble of students at Rockville High School. They went to a beautiful school in a land not too far away, and they put on a wonderful performance of “Once upon a Mattress”!
The musical is a take on the classic fairytale “The Princess and the Pea”. Prince Dauntless (played by Junior Eric Alexander) is of marrying age but his mother; Queen Aggravaine (Tory Schreffler) does not want her baby boy. Every time a princess comes to marry Dauntless she creates a “test” to see if the princess is worthy of her son. The tests are unfair and no princess is able to pass them. But when a new princess named Winnifred the Woebegone (Paris Ford) comes to the kingdom everything gets turned upside-down!
One of the many standout performance included David Forgy who played the mute King Sextimus. King Sextimus had a curse put on him so now he can only communicate via pantomime and for not being able to speak Forgy communicated wonderfully with the audience and the other characters.
Another highlight of the show was the dynamic duo of Rebecca Claborn and Amy Broadbent who played a Minstrel and a Jester respectively played perfectly off of each other throughout the performance as well as during their solo performances making the audience roar with laughter every time they went onto the stage.
The music during the performance was provided by a wonderful pit orchestra (conducted by Mr. Phil Barnes) with instruments ranging from bass clarinet to electric guitar. Although they were inside a cramped pit their wonderful sound filled the auditorium.
From curtain to curtain the show was a delight to watch. All the actors and actresses were smiling the whole time and the audience was no different.
-Joel Guttman
Magruder High School
The musical is a take on the classic fairytale “The Princess and the Pea”. Prince Dauntless (played by Junior Eric Alexander) is of marrying age but his mother; Queen Aggravaine (Tory Schreffler) does not want her baby boy. Every time a princess comes to marry Dauntless she creates a “test” to see if the princess is worthy of her son. The tests are unfair and no princess is able to pass them. But when a new princess named Winnifred the Woebegone (Paris Ford) comes to the kingdom everything gets turned upside-down!
One of the many standout performance included David Forgy who played the mute King Sextimus. King Sextimus had a curse put on him so now he can only communicate via pantomime and for not being able to speak Forgy communicated wonderfully with the audience and the other characters.
Another highlight of the show was the dynamic duo of Rebecca Claborn and Amy Broadbent who played a Minstrel and a Jester respectively played perfectly off of each other throughout the performance as well as during their solo performances making the audience roar with laughter every time they went onto the stage.
The music during the performance was provided by a wonderful pit orchestra (conducted by Mr. Phil Barnes) with instruments ranging from bass clarinet to electric guitar. Although they were inside a cramped pit their wonderful sound filled the auditorium.
From curtain to curtain the show was a delight to watch. All the actors and actresses were smiling the whole time and the audience was no different.
-Joel Guttman
Magruder High School
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)