Once Upon a Mattress
at Costa Mesa High School

Reviewed on March 7, 2014

NameSchoolPublication/Broadcasts
Fountain Valley High School
Orange County Register
Mission Viejo High School
Orange County Register
University High School
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Nikki Tran
Fountain Valley High School

Submitted for publication to Orange County Register

Costa Mesa charms with ‘Mattress' of royal proportions


Nikki Tran is a senior at Fountain Valley High School in Fountain Valley

The life of a princess is not always brimming with picturesque ball gowns and tiaras as storybooks suggest. Often, being a princess can be a royal-pain. Especially at Costa Mesa's "Once Upon a Mattress," where a princess must swim a moat, rescue the prince from the clutches of his mother, and overcome an insurmountable test to achieve her happily ever after.

In this musical fairy tale, a kingdom suffers after an overprotective Queen Mother postpones all marriages until her son marries first. Wedded bliss proves elusive as brides-to-be fail the Queen's trials of strength, knowledge, and refinement. Yet, when Princess Winnifred arrives, she arises to the challenge and saves the kingdom from spouseless agony.

Rachel Russell crawls, struts, and chugs with reckless abandon as the Prince's unlikely betrothed, Princess Winnifred. A princess of the swamps, she radiates a tomboyish spirit through her husky voice and heavy, rough-and-tumble gait. During, "The Swamps of Home," Russell shows comedic talent as she echoes the gurgles of the marshlands and punctuates these sounds with a hilarious, deadpan expression.

To balance Russell's enthusiasm, Jon Jesudasen plays Prince Dauntless with quiet meekness. Dragging his feet and walking with his head down, he personifies a puppet under the control of his mother. However, these strings soon sever once he meets Winnifred. Together, the duo creates a complementary dynamic of brassy boldness and tight-lipped timidness.

Amidst these love woes, another courtship scheme, too, unfolds. Ellie Aguilar and Evan Stechauner, who stroll hand-in-hand as Lady Larkin and Sir Harry, respectively, express their love through a profound way: an out of wedlock pregnancy. Despite this taboo situation, Aguilar still exudes innocence as she daintily tiptoes on the balls of her feet while Stechauner flips his hair and mocks the masculine mold of knighthood. Through these mannerisms, the two draw laughter by both embodying and poking fun at the traditional fairy tale couple.

An additional ensemble that enriches the show is the trio of the Minstrel, the Jester, and the mute King Sextimus. The rapport between Kate Piatti, Rodrick Edwards, and Randy Stucker culminate in "The Minstrel, Jester, and I" where they effectively communicate through gestures and finish each other's sentences with precision.

Costa Mesa's production of "Once Upon a Mattress" requires no fairy godmother. Rather, the cast reminds to never underestimate the magic of colorful characters and outrageous physical humor.

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Jason Marrs
Mission Viejo High School

Submitted for publication to Orange County Register

Costa Mesa looks beyond the cover in "Once Upon a Mattress"

Jason Marrs is a senior at Mission Viejo High School in Mission Viejo.


As the lights fade in on a fantastically colorful court, a Minstrel comes forth to tell the tale of farcical medieval marriage in Costa Mesa's bashfully brassy production of Once Upon A Mattress. In a marriage deprived kingdom, Prince Dauntless is in need of a bride. However, in an attempt to keep her son single, Queen Aggravain has decreed that only the princess that can pass her test may marry her son, thus reinstating marriage in the kingdom. Now unable to legally marry his pregnant lover, Sir Harry must present Dauntless with Winnifred the Woebegone whom, to his mother's dismay, the Prince is immediately infatuated with. What follows is a bizarrely fun adventure through doughtiness, disco, and devotion.

Exploding onto the stage in an energetic whirlwind of tomboy charisma, Rachel Russel puts the charm on as a sweet, albeit manly Princess Winnifred. Bursting with masculine gusto, Winnifred vaults a wall, demanding to know who her suitor whilst displaying dancing chops in "Shy". Winnifred's sympathetic side is revealed as she canoodles with her lover, the contrasting Dauntless. With quivering hands and a meek, closed off stance, Jon Jesudasen foils Winnifred in his dispirited portrayal of the Prince whose growth as a character is excellently achieved through marked assertiveness and the shows finale. The contrast between masculine vigor and meek inferiority is highlighted in "Song of Love" where Dauntless' display of awkward affection is blown away by Winnifred's weightlifting and surprisingly incredible scatting.

Evan Stechauner brings a haughty heroism to the stage as the airy and asinine Sir Harry. With chest puffed out, hands on hips, and exquisitely timed hair flips, Harry displays an excellent knack for physical characterization. Alternatively, Ellie Aguilar evokes dainty innocence as Harry's jilted lover, Lady larkin. Her naivety thrust against Harry's bombastic nature creates both hilarity and solemnity as their relationship unfolds.

Randy Stuker and Roderick Edwards display hilarious physical comedy as the vaudevillian duo of King Sextimus and the Jester. Mute, the king employs expert comedic timing using constant charades while the Jester commands the stage as a barking dog or soft shoe singer.

Rife with unique, energetic characters in a fantastical setting, Costa Mesa dares us to look beyond the cover and reserve judgment of the abnormal in their hilarious yet poignant production of Once Upon A Mattress.


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Catalina Fernandez
University High School

Submitted for publication to OC Cappies Facebook

Costa Mesa's "Once Upon a Mattress" Evokes Laughter in the Audience

Costa Mesa High School presents the audience with a comical production of "Once Upon a Mattress" that not only manages to humorously retell the classic fable, "The Princess and the Pea", but also, proceeds to add an unexpected and entertaining twist to society's concept of a traditional fairy-tale.

Serving as a dynamic addition to the musical is that of the spunky Princess Winnifred (Rachel Russell). Through her strong, bold physicality and rough, engaging vocalization; Russell is able to effectively assume a certain masculinity to the otherwise delicate princess stereotype, a contrast which leads to the overall development and success of the production. Winnifred's clear and undeniable brashness is especially notable during the musical number, "Shy", in which she creates a profound connection with the audience by exhibiting a squatting position followed by heavy steps and powerful vocal depth; all which allow the audience to further grasp the strong essence of her character.

Over the course of the musical, Winnifred continues to reveal the magnificent complexity of the production through her relationship with Prince Dauntless (Jon Jesudasen). Dauntless correspondingly portrays a divergence from that of the traditional prince figure as his character, an innocent young man with clumsy, loose movements and soft, toned down vocalization, extensively differs from that of Winnifred's.

In addition to the unlikely yet synchronized pairing of Winnifred and Dauntless, Lady Larkin (Ellie Aguilar) and Sir Harry (Evan Stechauner) contribute to the pleasant versatility of the show. As the two archetypal characters, Lady Larkin, the damsel in distress with a velvety voice, and Sir Harry, a pompous knight who brings forth a constant flipping of the hair and an outward chest, are presented throughout the production, the audience is stimulated to distinguish the apparent absurdity within the princess and hero stereotypes.

Another beneficial component of the show is that of the Minstrel (Kate Piatti), the Jester (Rodrick Edwards), and King Sextimus (Randy Stucker). As a whole, these characters intensively contribute to the humor as they consistently include goofy facial expressions and effectively utilize comedic timing throughout the pantomime portions.

Overall, Costa Mesa's "Once Upon a Mattress" not only addresses a societal point, regarding the archetypes within fairy tales and common fables, but also serves as a highly entertaining production that makes use of comedic timing, strong physicality, and vocalization to captivate and impress the audience.


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