On October 26th, the students of Young Artists of America took to the Dekelboum Concert Hall in The Clarice at the University of Maryland for their first main stage production of “Once Upon A Mattress in Concert.” The performance featured the robust talent of the students in YAACompany, YAAOrchestra and YAAJunior, a unique blend of actors, vocalists, and instrumentalists from high schools and middle schools throughout the DMV area.
The show opened with an explanation of the history of “Once Upon A Mattress,” featuring a lecture that described that the show was composed by Mary Rodgers, the daughter of renowned composer, Richard Rogers. YAA places an important emphasis on the history of the shows they put on and honoring the origin of the productions is a memorable segment in each of their concerts.
“Once Upon a Mattress” is a retelling of the classic fairy tale, “The Princess and the Pea,” in which Queen Aggravain is in search of an eligible princess to marry her son, Prince Dauntless. Until the prince finds a wife, the rest of the kingdom is forbidden to wed. Sir Harry, a knight of the Royal Guard, desperately needs to marry his wife, as she is expecting a child, so he seeks out a bride for the prince. Harry finds Princess Winifred from the Swamps and presents her to the queen. Winifred shocks Queen Aggravain with her unsophisticated, tomboyish mannerisms, and the queen develops an impossible test in hopes of driving away the princess by placing a pea under twenty thick downy mattresses.
The orchestra began the performance with an animated rendition of the score’s Overture, followed by the first song, “Many Moons Ago”, sung by four soloists and backed by an elegant chorus of middle and high school students. Notable musical performances included “Shy,” sung by Ella Gatlin, a senior from Blake High School, who captured audience hearts with her powerful Broadway belt; “The Swamps of Home” executed stunningly by junior from Churchill High School, Sitare Sadeghi; and “Happily Ever After” sung by Churchill senior Heather Kirschner, with a sassy, breathtaking flair. Others include the orchestra-favorite “Song of Love” led by senior Theodore Yu from Oakland Mills High School, who played Prince Dauntless, and Walter Johnson High School senior Mia Blackman, who portrayed Princess Winifred.
YAA is one of the only youth musical theater programs in the area that can boast a full youth orchestra that accompanies the singers and shares their onstage presence. “YAA is a symphonic experience you can get nowhere else. It is a community full of different but very passionate people. YAA has taught me commitment and shown me the capabilities of high school students,” YAA’s concertmaster, Northwest senior Charlene Shiu, said, “I also get to learn under one of the best orchestra conductors in the county!”
With its commitment to providing the best musical theater training in the area for high school and middle school students, YAA has established its presence in the theater community through its stunning performances and dedication to providing quality educational experiences. YAA will perform its second main stage production, “Beauty and the Beast in Concert”, in collaboration with Alan Menken on March 28th, 2020 at the Music Center at Strathmore.
Article by Alexis Cheng of Northwest High School
Graphic by Helena Yang of Richard Montgomery High School