'Once Upon A Mattress' Performances March 15-17

The Holmdel Theatre Guild of Holmdel High School will present “Once upon a Mattress” on March 15, 16 and 17, 2012 at 7:30 in the high school auditorium.  Tickets are $12.00 general admission and $5 for students and seniors.

“Once Upon A Mattress” is the hilarious re-telling of the famous fable “The Princess and the Pea” with a twist. 

Prince Dauntless the Drab (senior Noah Rauchwerk) wants to marry but his impossible mother, Queen Aggravain (senior Kelsey Lynch), wants to keep her precious son to herself. 

She devises impossible tests with the help of her cohort, the Wizard (senior Branden Steinagle), that eligible princesses must pass before they will be allowed to marry her son. 

The Queen has also decreed that no one in the kingdom will be allowed to marry until Prince Dauntless marries.  That’s a major problem for Sir Harry (senior Justin Sorice) and his intended Lady Larken (senior Beth Weiner) as she has revealed to him that she is pregnant so it is crucial they marry as soon as possible.

So, Harry ventures out to find a princess for Prince Dauntless and returns with Winnifred (senior Jackie Kuczinski), a rather unconventional type of princess. 

Laughs persist throughout the show as Winnifred is put to the ultimate impossible “sensitivity” test that she successfully passes.

This is accomplished with the aid of Dauntless’ father, the mute King Sextimus (junior Rob Christie), the Minstrel (sophomore Ashwin Prasanna) and the Jester (senior Tim Salas).

Others in the cast include: Nancy Brancati, Rachel Brudner, Kirin Dombek, Hannah Friedman, Claire Gates, Danielle Habiby, Tiffany Hwang, Mona Ibrahim, Natasa Kostic, Jelena Kostic, Larry Lograno, Anna Lynch, Kelly Maher, Daniella Monticciolo, Tennessee Nunez, Chris O’Neill, Julia Salvia, Julia Shapiro, Sara Stark, Leah Von Essen, Emma Weber, Miriam Woodward. 

Student orchestra members are: Aylin Uyar, Clair Park, Chloe Chan, Andrea Lau, Sharon Tang, Tiffany Huang, Jessica Chang, Jessica Ling, Eric Kwong, Rajeev Erramilli, Ben Cruz, Peter Gyory, Vamsi Ponnapalli, Brandon Eng and Katherine Kim.

This production is directed by Joseph Clores with choreography by Patricia Clores. Matthew Goetke is musical director with technical direction by Robert Smith and lighting by Ted Mester.  The production boasts elaborate sets and costumes with a full live orchestra. For further information send an e-mail to jclores@holmdelschools.org.