Once Upon a Mattress was performed April 19^th- 22^nd. Friday and Saturday night the theatre was filled. After the show there was collective agreement that this musical was one of Linganore’s best productions.

 Karli Cole, Princess Winnifred, stood out with her astounding singing and humorous acting. She shined in her song “Swamps of Home.”  Luke Moorman, Prince Dauntless had fantastic characterization and really shined as the whimsical Prince Dauntless.

“I really enjoyed playing this role and I couldn’t have asked for a better cast and director for my last show at Linganore!” said Cole.

 Cole has done numerous other shows outside of Linganore including, West Side Story, and A Christmas Carol. She is studying acting when she goes off to college in the fall.

 The Favorite musical numbers included, “Fred” and the “Spanish Panic.” All of the music was played and sung by Linganore students which added to the difficulty of the production. The head of the vocals and instrumentals was Damon Dye and Kevin Lloyd. All of the ensemble songs were on key and sung in perfect unison which contributed to the professionalism of the show.

 Kara Peterson and Nick Johnson, King and Queen added additional comedic relief to the show. Johnson’s pantomiming and facial expressions won the crowd over and Kara’s belligerent character as the evil Queen sent the audience into laughing fits. Lauren Lopatka and Alex Richardson’s heart felt performance throughout the musical as Lady Larkin and Sir Harry portrayed a heartfelt romance.

 The costumes were for the most part appropriate. All of the actors were dressed in medieval era outfits. The lighting in the show set the mood of each scene and ran smoothly throughout the show.  

 The setting was beautiful. The backdrop was rented however all other aspects were made by director Julian Lazarus, the tech crew, and by some of the actors. The transitions from scene to scene were pretty smooth with some mishaps when a set piece would occasionally bump another and create a ruckus. 

 There were three major dance numbers. The dances, although not completely in unison, had beautiful choreography. The style of dance was ballet, swing dancing and theatrical dance. Clearly, most of the cast were not trained in dance but their lively attitudes and facial expressions made up for their lack of training.

 “Four out of the 42 cast members had actual training in dance so I think the dancing has gone very well and I’m very proud of the cast and happy how it turned out,” said choreographer Caitlyn Friday.

 To prepare for the show, the cast and crew put together an all-you-can-eat Once Upon a Mattress pancake breakfast to raise money for the drama department. The school’s cafeteria staff cooked pancakes, charging $8 per customer and together they made $1,000 dollars. The cast performed musical numbers from the show as people ate. 

 The major strengths of the show were the singing, set design as well as the character development of the actors.