Unlike heavier musicals performed in the past few years, this year LT’s Theatre Board production staff has chosen a comedy–“Once Upon a Mattress”–as the annual musical. 

The essential plot of the musical is as follows: a witch has cursed the King of a medieval kingdom. The king is cursed with muteness, until a remedy is found- which is an essential part of the plot. Meanwhile, his son, Prince Dauntless, must choose a princess to marry, but he cannot choose one until the princess passes his mother’s, Queen Aggravian’s, test.

“The cast is great, and they are going to have an amazing opening night,” Director Micheal Kuehl said.

The cast has already been rehearsing since November, and since there will be four shows premiered, Keuhl decided to employ a split cast. This means for the lead roles, there will be two actors cast, both playing in two shows. The lead role, Princess Winifred, is played by Ginny Gibbs ‘25 and Addy Michor ‘25.

“It’s exciting being the lead in the musical,” Gibbs said. “I like sharing the role with Michor because we bounce ideas off of each other and love talking about [our character] Winnifred’s mannerisms.” 

The cast has days where they rehearse for musical purposes, with rehearsals led by choral directors John Musick and David Hartley. Then, some rehearsals are only focused on specific scenes.

“I played one of the leads, Hope Cladwell, last year in Urinetown, so I know what the workload is like, but the two characters are very different from each other,” Gibbs said. 

The entire cast either sings, acts, dances, or does all three, Keuhl said. The dance ensemble primarily dances or has special routines, and the ensemble itself sings the chorus, and many act as well.

“I have Winnifred-specific music rehearsals at least once a week,” Gibbs said. “Sometimes [Michor] and I practice together, and other times it’s one-on-one with our music director.” The lead cast especially has rehearsals five days a week, with time slots varying between 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Gibbs said. The cast also bonds often as they hang out between rehearsals. 

“Even though the cast only has a few months to prepare, this two hour long show has an amazing group of students with some strong student leadership,” Kuehl said. “We’re going to have a fantastic opening.” 

Bridget Dominiak is the head dance choreographer, helping the dance ensemble learn their routines, and she is the head costume director as well. 

“Since ‘Urinetown’ was performed last year, and the year previous ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ the Theatre Board decided it was time for something light and whimsical, ” Keuhl said. 

Urinetown had a darker yet important message, as did Fiddler on the Roof.  This fairytale story will be ready for audiences to view soon. The musical will run Feb. 20-23 in the NC Reber Center at 7 p.m.