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Once Upon A Mattress is a musical comedy written as an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea."
Once Upon A Mattress takes place in a fictional medieval kingdom ruled by King Sextimus the Silent and the devious Queen Aggravian.
Due to an unhappy curse, King Sextimus is unable to speak. Meanwhile, his terror of a wife, Queen Aggravian, has taken over control of the kingdom.
In an attempt to keep Prince Dauntless single, the Queen has decreed that any prospective princess must pass a test administered by the queen — with each test specially designed to result in failure.
The Queen also decrees that no one else in the kingdom may marry until Prince Dauntless does. Lady Larken and Sir Harry are extremely disturbed by this fact since Lady Larken is now pregnant with Sir Harry's baby. Luckily, Sir Harry is able to find an amazing princess, Winnifred the Woebegone. She instantly catches the attention of Prince Dauntless, and in the end, is able to pass the Queen's supposedly impassable sensitivity test. When the Queen still tries to prevent Prince Dauntless from marrying, he tells her to 'shut up' — which breaks the curse on the king. Now able to speak, King Sextimus regains his rightful position as leader of the kingdom, and all is well.
This Tony Award-nominated play opened in 1959, starring Carol Burnett, in her stage debut, as Winnifred.
Music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer.
Riverhead High School Blue Masques presents
Once Upon a Mattress
Saturday, April 2 at 8 p.m.
Sunday April 3 at 2 p.m.
Friday, April 8 and Saturday April 9 at 8 p.m.
Photos by Peter Blasl.
