Forced to Abandon 'Rent,' MHS Drama Stages Spring Musical Replacement

The mute King Sextimus lustily chasing women around on stage, a lady in waiting who gets pregnant out of wedlock, the spiking of a young girl's drink with opium--these were just some of the scenes in the play Once Upon a Mattress, staged Thursday for the first time by Monrovia High's drama department after the district denied their request to perform the musical Rent in January.

Decidedly more tame and light-hearted than Rent, Thursday's performance still contained plenty of material dealing with themes that the district to stage the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical that deals with drug use, HIV/AIDS and homosexuality.

Segal and a cast member said after opening night Thursday that it took them a long time to get over the district's decision but that they were happy with the production they were able to put on.

"We felt it would have been so much more meaningful [to do Rent]," said Amy Segal, who played Princess Winnifred the Woebegone in Mattress. "This was a cute little fairy tale, but Rent would have been an actual moral, especially for high schoolers."

The officials who made the call to ban Rent--MUSD Superintendent Linda Wagner and MHS Principal Darvin Jackson--were not in attendance at opening night, and their absence was noticed by Segal. He did not want to speak about the Rent decision specifically, but noted that attendance was sparse Thursday evening.

"If people are so concerned about family entertainment, how come we only had 41 people on opening night?," Segal said.

Wagner said in January that every student and parent should find a play acceptable in order for it to proceed. District officials in Rent as being objectionable for some students.

"The play has very dark themes," Wagner said in January. "At least from what I gathered, portions of this community would not be open to the dark things they would find in Rent."

Wagner did not return a call requesting comment on this story Friday.

Jackson declined to discuss the decision to cancel Rent in January, about decisions for future productions that he said would be his final comment on the subject.

While the themes in Mattress were certainly more diluted, Segal pointed to a few scenes that could be considered inappropriate by someone.

"There's sexual innuendo in everything, if you look at it that way," he said.

Segal said at one point in January that he would consider retiring next year because of the district's decision, but after several closed-door meetings with school officials, he backed away from those statements.

The department wanted to stage the high school version of Rent, which has been produced by public schools around the country. South El Monte High School put on the musical earlier this year.

Instead, Segal settled for Once Upon a Mattress, an adaptation of the classic fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. The play tells the story of Princess Winnifred and Prince Dauntless the Drab, whose efforts to get married are sabotaged by Dauntless' overbearing mother, Queen Aggravain. Aggravain's husband, King Sextimus, is the victim of a curse that makes him mute until Dauntless can stand up to his mother, which he does in the end.

The play featured numerous musical numbers and a light-hearted comic tone captured by one scene in which Sextimus attempts to teach Dauntless about the birds and the bees--entirely through charades.

The production featured 16 cast members, half of whom were freshmen, Segal said.

In addition of having to settle for their second choice in scripts, the drama students had to overcome other difficulties in order to get Mattress on stage. The opening of the school's , so Segal had to stage his production in the auditorium at .

That meant that rehearsals had to take place in classrooms instead of the auditorium, which wasn't opened up to the production until three days before opening night. Segal said he was pleased with Thursday's performance, considering what the department had to deal with.

"For what we had and for what I encountered, I thought it was pretty good," Segal said.

Asked if he will ever attempt to stage Rent again, Segal replied, "I don't know what I'm going to do."

'Once Upon a Mattress' will run Friday and Saturday at Clifton Middle School at 7:30 p.m. and also at the same time on May 12, 13 and 14. Tickets are $10.

CAST:

Andrew Biggs--King Sextimus The Silent
Madisyn Brown--Lady Mabelle/Fantasy Queen
Bailey Edge--The Wizard
Paige Elwell--Lady Larken
Kristen Federoff--Queen Aggravain
Steven Federoff--Sir Harry
Feather Flores--Nightingale/Sir Luce
Molly Harvis--The Jester
Madison Hopkins--Princess #12
Natalie Innecken--Lady Lucille
Sabrina Knebel--Wench/Fantasy Princess
Vickie Lapaz--Lady Rowena
Portia Montero--The Mistrel
Eddie Olivares--Prince Dauntless the Drab
John Sedano--Sir Studley/Fantasy Prince
Amy Segal--Princess Winnifred the Woebegone

STAGE TECHS

Adam Aguilar (Stage Manager)
Suzie Beltran (Costumes)
Alexsandra Conde (House/Concessions)
Nathan Cumplido (Asst. Stage Manager)
Kevin Farley (Spotlights)
Maya Feldthouse (Stage Crew)
Ryan Jensen (Stage Crew)
Steven Klimesewski (Stage Crew)
Kara Montpas (Lights/Sound)
Jason Richardson (Stage Crew)
Jesse Ybarra (Lights/Sound)
Sasha Zaroyan (Stage Crew)