Once Upon a Stage

Lights, camera, action! The student body of Jefferson Academy, and especially this year’s senior class, have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare the last show of the year: “Once Upon a Mattress.”

From time crunches to bittersweet goodbyes, this musical is about more than just a picky princess. Rather, it’s about the community a show like this can create and the memories that come with it.

“I think it’s going to be so much fun,” director Ms. Grace said. “The students were not expecting to enjoy it as much as they are. The fun for me is seeing them really invest in it and then have that fun.”

Before the amusement can begin, however, the tough parts of putting on a production need to be worked out first.

“A difficulty I found while helping out was timing,” stage crew member Liliana Kess said. “There’s just a few minor kinks everywhere that we have to work out, but for the most part, I’d say we’re pretty close to being ready.”

Once the actors are ready to hit the stage, sophomore Rylee Cox predicts that the audience may have a fresh perception of the musical compared to previous productions.

“Recently, we did ‘Catch Me If You Can,’ and I feel like that one was kind of more mature,” Cox said. “And we also did ‘Legally Blonde,’ and that one was kind of racy. ‘Once Upon a Mattress’ isn’t childish, but it’s more toned down and playful, so I think people might be more used to something like that than to an intense thing.”

The playfulness embedded in the musical thrives just as well in the performance as it does backstage and during rehearsals.

“My favorite part of all this has probably been all the dances,” freshman Maddie Sayre said. “I’m really excited for this upcoming performance.”

Apart from the dances, the biggest part of these performances are the songs. Oftentimes the songs are the structure of the show itself, providing story and context to the plot while still keeping it fun.

“Not to spoil anything, but there’s this one song called ‘The King, the Jester, and I,’ and it’s one of my favorites,” Cox said. “It’s a fun song because the king can’t speak the whole time, and he’s kind of pantomiming his parts in the song, and he’s just trying to show the audience what he’s meaning to say.”

Performances like these do not come along without the help of lots of innovative and artistic minds. With that, students can share their own ideas and add to parts of the show to make their work even better than before.

“It’s really fun to do,” Kess said of her behind-the-scenes technical work. “I mean, it’s amazing to be able to show off all of our creativity and skills in something like this.”

Sooner or later, when the applause is over and the curtains close, reality will set in and both students and staff members will share one last moment together.

“This one is harder for me from the standpoint that I lose my seniors after this, and so it’s very bittersweet,” Ms. Grace said. “I have a lot of really great students that I’ve had since they were in seventh and eighth grade, and this will be their last show.”