November 20, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 11A
‘Once Upon a Mattress’:
a children’s story, short
enough to read at bedtime.
From it, decades ago, com-
The days have grown poser Mary Rodgers, lyricist
short, the nights cold, long Marshall Barer and writers
and mostly damp. It’s time Jay Thompson and Dean
again to hunker down and Fuller created a musical farce
¿QG GHOLJKW FORVH WR KRPH that, in 1959, introduced au-
No one’s driving to the zoo diences to Carol Burnett for
for an outdoor concert this WKH¿UVWWLPH+HUUROOLFNLQJ
interpretation of Winnifred
time of year.
So, in an effort to bring launched her long career in
some lighthearted levity to a comedy.
For, unlike Anderson’s
sometimes tenebrous season,
“an antidote to the fall and princess, Winnifred is cer-
winter blues,” says director tainly not delicate or sensi-
Arnie Hummasti, Cannon tive, nor is she likely to pass
Beach’s Coaster Theatre conniving Queen Aggra-
Playhouse is presenting vain’s rigged test of Winn-
the musical comedy “Once LIUHG¶V VXI¿FLHQW DULVWRFUDWLF
Upon a Mattress” as its holi- sensibility: a night’s sleep
upon 20 feather mattresses
day production.
Those of us who can sing disturbed by a single pea.
“Our Winnifred will
“The Rain in Spain” along
with Henry Higgins and give Carol Burnett a run
“Chim Chim Cher-ee” with for her money,” says direc-
Bert and Mary may well tor Hummasti of Amanda
¿QGRXUVHOYHVPXWHKRZHY- Payne, a veteran Coaster
er, when Princess Winnifred performer who played Belle
belts out the strapping and in last year’s production of
incongruous “I’m Shy.” If Disney’s “Beauty and the
you’re unfamiliar with “Once Beast.”
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Upon a Mattress” you’ve
missed some clever show Not only have Sarah Jessica
tunes. Who here on the coast Parker, in a ’90s Broadway
won’t empathize with Prin- revival, and Tracey Ullman,
cess Winnifred, who hopes to in a 2005 Disney television
escape her own “land of fog- movie, played that role, but
gy, foggy dews?” Somedays “Once Upon a Mattress”
is perhaps the most fre-
we could sing with her:
The swamps of home are quently produced musical
brushed with green and gold in America, a favorite of
amateur community the-
At break of day.
The swamps of home are aters. “If anyone’s been in-
volved in theater over the
lovely to behold
past 50 years, they probably
From far away…
Based upon Hans Chris- know this show,” says Jenni
tian Anderson’s “The Prin- Tronier, who directs mar-
cess and the Pea,” “Once keting and operations at the
Upon a Mattress” describes Coaster.
Judith Light, designer and
the surprising candidature of
Princess Winnifred the Woe- creator of 23 costumes for the
begon for the hand of Prince production, agrees. “I was
Dauntless in marriage, a talking with the young ca-
marriage all the kingdom’s shier in the fabric store, and
young lovers wait for desper- she said, ‘Oh, I did “Once
ately since the law decrees, Upon a Mattress” my senior
“Throughout the land no year of high school two years
one may wed until Dauntless ago.’ Young people know this
musical. It’s very popular.”
shares his marriage bed.”
Aftyn Garvin, a La-
Anderson’s original folk
tale, written in 1835, was dy-in-Waiting in this her
Zany musical farce lights up the Coaster
Theatre stage this holiday season
By Jon Broderick
For EO Media Group
SUBMITTED PHOTO BY GEORGE VETTER/CANNON-BEACH.NET
The Coaster Theatre will present the zany musical farce “Once Upon a Mattress” this holiday season.
humor, but it’s been camou-
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“Once Upon a Mattress”
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production with the Coast-
er Theatre. After a lifetime
in theater studying, acting,
teaching and directing, he
still delights in the work.
“Drama is an art,” he says,
“non-competitive — well,
after try-outs, that is — and
collaborative among talent-
ed people toward a common
end. It’s very satisfying.”
“Once Upon a Mattress”
opened Nov. 13 and runs
through Dec. 20. Thursday,
Friday and Saturday per-
formances begin at 7:30
p.m. Sunday shows begin
at 3 p.m. Tickets are $18
and $23, available online at
coastertheatre.com or at the
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call 503-436-1242.
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“You need precise timing
and visual cues, facial ex-
pressions. This cast is doing
a great job. I’m really fortu-
nate to have such talented
people.”
The script and song lyrics
hide double entendres and
absurdities that keep the au-
dience nimble. “It reminds
me of Bugs Bunny,” says
Sheila Shaffer who plays
the Wizard. “There is adult
G
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describes the show’s con-
tinuing appeal to young au-
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a little bit feminist, in a way.
The main character Winn-
ifred is a very strong wom-
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love without being the sort
of princess that all the other
ladies in waiting are.”
Don’t expect a moral,
however. “It’s basically a
zany, musical farce with no
messages or anything,” says
Hummasti. “Our intent is to
give the audience a rollick-
ing good time. We want to
hear them chuckling on the
way out.” Hummasti, during
auditions, encouraged actors
to “really chew the scenery.”
None of the characters is a
complicated soul. “They’re
all stock characters,” says
Hummasti, “but they’re in-
teresting. All of them have
their eccentricities, and I’ve
encouraged the cast to play
with those.”
Producing a farce pres-
ents its own challenges.
“Comedy is tough,” he says.
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