#InTheLoop | Queens Theater Group Presents ‘Once Upon a Mattress’
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Sir Harry is coming to Queens. No, not Meghan’s husband. The noble knight who is in love with Lady Larken. He’ll spend some time with King Sextimus the Silent, Queen Aggravain, Prince Dauntless the Drab, and Shy Swamp Princess Winnifred.
Maggie’s Little Theater will present Once Upon A Mattress in Middle Village from Saturday, July 8, to Sunday, July 23.
This musical, which is a humorous adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1835 fairy tale The Princess and the Pea, takes place in a castle somewhere in Medieval Europe. A cursed King Sextimus is mute, and he can only be cured when a mouse eats a hawk…or something like that. Who knows the real deal?
Meanwhile, Prince Dauntless can’t seem to find a wife – a huge, international problem since Queen Aggravain has banned her subjects from getting married before he does. Hilarity ensues over two acts with a minstrel, a jester, a wizard, an unexpected pregnancy, a foiled escape, and some clever songs. Sanity is finally restored after a pea is removed from a mattress, allowing Princess Winnifred to get a good night’s sleep.
They all live happily ever after.
General admission is $25, but seniors and children (ages 11 and under) can attend for $20. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm.
Maggie’s Little Theater has produced plays at St. Margaret Parish Hall, which is located at 66-05 79th Pl., since 2007. Past productions include The Mousetrap, Kiss Me Kate, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Raincoat.
There’s plenty of parking, and the venue is air conditioned and wheelchair accessible — although the restrooms aren’t.
With music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and words by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Barer, the first-ever Once Upon a Mattress debuted off-Broadway in 1959. It made it to Broadway’s Alvin Theatre (the Neil Simon Theatre nowadays) soon thereafter. A television adaptation launched on CBS in 1964. Since then, the musical has traveled the world.
The Middle Village version is directed by Barbara Auriemma. The cast includes Shana Aborn (Queen Aggravain), Alicia Brosky (Princess Winnifred), Ken Cohn (First Knight), Renee Cohn (Lady Lucille/Principal Dancer), Miriam P. Denu (Wizard), Farah Diaz-Tello (Lady Merrill/Princess #12), Amanda Gillespie (Jester), Robert Gold (King Sextimus), Monica Maddock (Lady Larken), Gianna Nicoletta (Princess#12/Lady Merrill), Angel Elliot Norvez (Lady H), Joe Paciullo (Nightingale of Samarkand/Sir Studley), Yves Romain (Second Knight), Lauren Rottenberg (Lady Rowena), David Stein (Sir Harry), Daniel Stravino (Prince Dauntless), and Dolores Voyer (Minstrel).
Images: Maggie’s Little Theater