Luke McClellan as the Jester, Shyla Weeks as King Sextimus and Levi Beck as the Minstrel during a dress rehearsal Wednesday, May 4 of Snohomish High’s “Once Upon A Mattress.”
Jim Scolman
SNOHOMISH — Snohomish High’s theater club is time-traveling a Broadway classic to the beat of a different drum for its rendition of “Once Upon A Mattress,” which has two more weekends of performances.
The Middle Ages royal court is reworked to the 1960s for this musical comedy.
The students decided to use the 1960s for their show’s backdrop because the decade’s vast changes offer a parallel.
Lead costumer Tucker Ferguson, a freshman, clothes each character in bold dresses, beige slacks and plenty more: There are 10 costume changes across the 17 scenes.
The era is “a little more relatable to us in that it’s not ancient,” said sophomore Molly Dumont, wearing a brown plaid sportcoat as one of the knights.
In “Once Upon a Mattress,” the royal court experiences a revolution underpinned by good and evil.
The show has two separate casts for the performances.
Shyla Weeks and Lila Vice take the role of King Sextimus, whose voice was initially taken by a curse. Weeks has to pantomime with pronounced movement to communicate what’s going on.
That curse on the King came from the Queen, played by Kylie Anderson and Christina Draper.
The Queen is protective of meek son Prince Dauntless (role shared by Jackson Zimmerman and Logan Ferguson), and she has demanded nobody can wed until he weds a true princess.
Two others in the kingdom, Lady Larken and her beau Sir Harry (role shared by Luke McClellan and Dylan Baker), are blocked by the decree, and aim to fix it. Kenzi Moore and Makenzie Stinson share the role of Lady Larken. Moore said Larken can be “very snotty.”
Playing Queen Aggravain is a challenge to “communicate evilness while being nice,” Anderson said.
Her advisers include an evil trio, once of which is Nightingale, represented as a bird puppet (role shared by Ella Byerly and Rachael Hassler).
Princess Winnifred, a revolutionary princess, shakes up the court (role shared by Byerly and Sami Burton.)
The student-run theater group is picking up freshmen, with new faces such as Weeks making their debuts.
The cast is tight-knit, and grew tighter in managing the show after theater adviser Scott Randall stepped down for personal reasons in March. The interim theater adviser is Cami Cole.
The shows have the full Snohomish High orchestra providing music.
Remaining showtimes are May 13, 14, 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. as well as May 14 and 21 at 1 p.m. Tickets at the door are $15 for adults or $10 for students. The play is in the Snohomish High PAC, 1315 5th St.
Monroe High theater doing madcap “Addams Family”
Monroe High Theater’s spring production is a zany stage adaption of “The Addams Family.” In it, the kooky family meets their daughter’s new boyfriend. Expect the unexpected in this play. Remaining showtimes are Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14 at 7 p.m. as well as Saturday, May 14 at 2 p.m.. Tickets at the door are $15 for adults or $10 for students. The performances are inside the Monroe High Performing Arts Center, 17001 Tester Road.
