‘Once Upon a Mattress’ Zany musical farce lights up the Coaster Th eatre stage this holiday season The days have grown short, the nights She’s a tomboy and ¿ nds love without being cold, long and mostly damp. It’s time again the sort of princess that all the other ladies in to hXnNer down and ¿ nd delight close to waiting are.” home. No one’s driving to the zoo for an out- Don’t expect a moral, however. “It’s basi- door concert this time of year. cally a zany, musical farce with no messages So, in an effort to bring some lighthearted or anything,” says Hummasti. “Our intent is levity to a sometimes tenebrous season, “an to give the audience a rollicking good time. antidoteT to the fall and winter blues,” says We want to hear them chuckling on the way director Arnie Hummasti, Cannon Beach’s out.” Hummasti, during auditions, encour- Coaster Theatre Playhouse is presenting the aged actors to “really chew the scenery.” musical comedy “Once Upon a Mattress” as None of the characters is a complicated soul. its holiday production. “They’re all stock characters,” says Hum- Those of us who can sing “The Rain in masti, “but they’re interesting. All of them Spain” along with Henry Higgins and “Chim have their eccentricities, and I’ve encouraged Chim Cher-ee” with Bert and Mary may well the cast to play with those.” ¿ nd ourselves mute, however, when Princess Producing a farce presents its own chal- Winnifred belts out the strapping and incon- lenges. “Comedy is tough,” he says. “You gruous “I’m Shy.” If you’re unfamiliar with need precise timing and visual cues, facial “Once Upon a expressions. This cast is doing a great job. Mattress” you’ve I’m really fortunate to have such talented missed some people.” clever show tunes. The script and song lyrics hide double en- Who here on the Submitted photos by George Vetter/Cannon-Beach.net tendres and absurdities that keep the audience coast won’t empa- Above: “Once Upon a Mattress” tells the story of “The Princess and nimble. “It reminds me of Bugs Bunny,” says thize with Princess the Pea.” Sheila Shaffer who plays the Wizard. “There Winnifred, who Left: The Coaster Theatre will present the zany musical farce “Once is adult humor, but it’s been camouÀ aged.” hopes to escape her Upon a Mattress” this holiday season. notforsale “Once Upon a Mattress” is director Hum- own “land of fog- masti’s ¿ rst production with the Coaster gy, foggy dews?” Judith Light, designer and creator of 23 Theatre. After a lifetime in theater studying, Somedays we could costumes for the production, agrees. “I was acting, teaching and directing, he still de- sing with her: talking with the young cashier in the fabric lights in the work. “Drama is an art,” he says, The swamps of store, and she said, ‘Oh, I did “Once Upon a “non-competitive — well, after try-outs, that home are brushed Mattress” my senior year of high school two is — and collaborative among talented people with green and gold years ago.’ Young people know this musical. toward a common end. It’s very satisfying.” At break of day. ifred is certainly not delicate or sensitive, nor It’s very popular.” “Once Upon a Mattress” opened Nov. 13 The swamps of home are lovely to behold is she likely to pass conniving Queen Aggra- Aftyn Garvin, a Lady-in-Waiting in this and runs through Dec. 20. Thursday, Friday From far away… vain’s rigged test of Winnifred’s suf¿ cient her ¿ rst Coaster production, describes the and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 Based upon Hans Christian Anderson’s aristocratic sensibility: a night’s sleep upon show’s continuing appeal to young audienc- p.m. Sunday shows begin at 3 p.m. Tickets “The Princess and the Pea,” “Once Upon a 20 feather mattresses disturbed by a single es. “Actually, I ¿ nd it’s a little bit feminist, are $18 and $23, available online at coast- Mattress” describes the surprising candida- pea. in a way. The main character Winnifred is a ertheatre.com or at the Coaster Theatre box ture of Princess Winnifred the Woebegon for “Our Winnifred will give Carol Burnett a very strong woman who de¿ es social norms. of¿ ce call 503-3-122. the hand of Prince Dauntless in marriage, run for her money,” says director Hummas- a marriage all the kingdom’s young lovers ti of Amanda Payne, a veteran Coaster per- wait for desperately since the law decrees, former who played Belle in last year’s pro- “Throughout the land no one may wed until duction of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Dauntless shares his marriage bed.” Payne isn’t the ¿ rst to try. Not only have Anderson’s original folk tale, written in Sarah Jessica Parker, in a ’90s Broadway 1835, was a children’s story, short enough to revival, and Tracey Ullman, in a 2005 Dis- read at bedtime. From it, decades ago, com- ney television movie, played that role, but poser Mary Rodgers, lyricist Marshall Barer “Once Upon a Mattress” is perhaps the most and writers Jay Thompson and Dean Fuller frequently produced musical in America, created a musical farce that, in 1959, intro- a favorite of amateur community theaters. duced audiences to Carol Burnett for the ¿ rst “If anyone’s been involved in theater over time. Her rollicking interpretation of Winn- the past 50 years, they probably know this VISUAL ARTS • LITERATURE • THEATER • MUSIC & MORE ifred launched her long career in comedy. show,” says Jenni Tronier, who directs mar- the arts For, unlike Anderson’s princess, Winn- keting and operations at the Coaster. Story by JON BRODERICK

November 19, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 9