Once Upon A Mattress

After four years of being a Water Street Player, I continue to say that the Severn School stage is my home. The relationships built through the preforming arts are invaluable, along with the chance to passion with the community. Once Upon A Mattress was a show unique to Severn, as the character development, comedic storyline and "Silly" aspect of the show has not been showcased in over five years. The character, Queen Aggravain, is a pompous, self-centered royal mess. Obsessed with the idea that she must conjure up impossible tests for princesses seeking her sons hand, Aggravain was such a fun character to play in the musical. Her attitude, words, and the way she carried herself felt as though she commanded the entire room every time I stepped on stage. Throughout the nearly 25 shows that I have participated in, I have never had as many lines to memorize. The several monologs were most definitely the greatest aspect of this character. Her rants to the wizard, "advice" to her son, and her attempt to get the princess to sleep were exciting to learn, as it presented opportunity to showcase my acting rather than my singing. While it took a long time to fully memorize the lines, it was more important to figure out which specific words I should accent, emphasize, speed up and slow down. I was fortunate enough to work with someone outside of school to workshop my character's attitude and how to expose the "mean" side of Aggravain. Reflecting upon the show, the cast and crew could not have put on a more wonderful show to end my high school.