The lights lower, the crowd shuffles in and the cast take their places. Costumes are adjusted and mattresses are stacked, all in preparation for this year’s drama club production of “Once Upon a Mattress.”
Based on “The Princess and the Pea,” this story follows Prince Dauntless, whose mother, Queen Aggravain, won’t allow anyone in the kingdom to marry until her son finds a princess. However, the tyrannical queen wants to maintain power over the kingdom and her son. Aggravain puts every potential match through impossible tests, as only the princess who can pass these tests is suited for her son.
When Princess Winnifred of the swamp arrives at the palace, Dauntless and Winnifred immediately fall in love, but the question remains: will Winnifred be good enough for Dauntless in the eyes of his mother?
“I have a bunch of lines, and this show is older, and it’s very wordy,” Sweet said. “If you ask other principal [roles], they may say to you that [it’s hard] because you [can] have your lines memorized, but you always have to be actively thinking on the spot. You can say your lines [almost] correctly, but you [can] slip up a word that could change how the plot is driven.”
As a senior, it’s a “busy season,” for Sweet. Between juggling schoolwork, college applications, clubs and rehearsals, she is “happy” that the whole cast has “started to really have fun and connect this past week.” But being a senior comes with responsibility, namely being a role model for the underclassmen in the cast.
“Even when days are long and hard and some days we don’t want to be there,” Sweet said, “I try to put my best foot forward and try to set a proper example of how we should be treating the adults and how we should be acting as a team. Because, at the end of the day, we are just a team trying to put something good on.”
Junior Lily McKinney plays the wizard Cardamon the Great, Queen Aggravain’s “quirky and eccentric right hand.”
“[My character] helps come up with and execute the Queen’s difficult ‘royalty tests’ that are done to prevent Dauntless from marrying anyone but a genuine princess,” McKinney said. “But eventually, with some pushing from the Minstrel and the Jester, I end up telling them the secret of what [Winnifred’s] royalty test is going to be.”
McKinney has been a part of the drama club since her freshman year, participating in both Haunted Woods and the mainstage productions, “Mamma Mia” and “Footloose,” but with “Once Upon a Mattress” being a less popular musical, it was a different experience.
“The rehearsal process was a long one,” McKinney said. “It definitely had a few bumps along the road as we tried to tackle such an out-there show, but it absolutely paid off. Everyone worked so, so hard to make this show the best it could possibly be. I love this cast and the creative team, and it’s turned into a really great show that everyone should come see.” Winnifred is played by junior Alaina Anthony, whose favorite part” about the role is Winnifred’s personality, which she describes as being “silly and energetic.”
“[It’s fun] because I get to be myself and have fun with my friends onstage,” Anthony said. “[But], I think the challenge I’ve had to face is confidence. Winnifred is a very confident girl and she’s helped me with my nerves and learning to be brave in unideal situations.”
After months of hard work learning songs, dances and scenes, Sweet says that the drama club is “in a really good place now.”
“[Everyone] has done a really good job supporting each other throughout the whole process,” Sweet said. “We know how to support each other in situations that we might not be prepared for. If someone drops a line or we don’t know how to pick up the scene, we’re ready to take it on.”
