Once Upon A Mattress - Birdville High School Theatre

MUSICAL AUDITION INFORMATION
Once Upon A Mattress
We appreciate your interest in auditioning for this year’s fine arts musical. Read the following
information to help you decide whether the fun and rigorous musical schedule is for you. You
will also find information on important dates, deadlines, forms, what to sing, what to wear,
how to find a monologue, how to get audition accompaniment music and more.
Important Upcoming Dates:
(For additional dates see conflict sheet at back of packet)
Auditions
Sign –up for a general audition time on black box door starting Monday, October 27
General Auditions: Monday, November 3 from 3:00 pm-7:00 pm
Dance Auditions: Tuesday, November 4 from 3:00 pm -4:00pm
Callbacks: Tuesday, November 4 from 4:00pm to 7:00 pm
What do I do, bring, wear, learn for each audition?
General Auditions on Monday, November 3:
1. You must have a memorized 45 second monologue (See below on where to look for monologues.)
Comedic are preferred but if you have a great dramatic monologue that’s OK too.
2. You must prepare approximately 1 minute of an up tempo song (verse and chorus) and you must bring an
accompaniment (karaoke) track on CD/phone/IPAD. You may not sing along with a recorded voice. (See
below on where to find accompaniment tracks)
3. You must dress to impress. Classy, professional and flattering.
4. Remember that your signed conflict sheet is due at the beginning of the dance audition.
November 4 Dance Audition on stage at 3:00pm
1. Wear clothes that allow you to move freely.
2. Wear shoes that allow you to move freely.
3. You must bring signed conflict sheet/permission to audition sheet to the dance audition or
you will not be able to continue auditioning.
November 4 Call backs for principal roles on stage at 4:00pm
1. Callbacks will be announced as soon as possible the evening of the general auditions.
2. Wear clothing that you wore to dance auditions.
3. Acting sides (scenes from the musical appropriate for each character) will be available on
Tuesday, November 4 before school. Please use your spare time during the day to prepare.
How to find a monologue: If you need help after reading see Mr. W/Panfil
1. Go to the theatre website STAGEHAWKS.ORG website and click on RESOURCES. Then click on
MONOLOGUES. The monologues are separated by gender. Find a humorous monologue that you like or
that fits you.
2. Cut monologue to 45 seconds to 1 minute in length.
3. Memorize the monologue. Remember that nerves play a part in the audition process. If You choose a
monologue and start memorizing early you will be much more comfortable in the audition. We want you to
act the monologue with powerful volume and lots of energy and personality. If you are still trying to
“remember” in auditions you will end up “reciting” the monologue and we will have no way to assess your
acting skills. In short, memorize early and know it so well that you can show us the personality of the
character.
How to find a song: If you still need help after reading see Mr. W
1. Go to any karaoke website and you will find many, many Broadway tunes that you can purchase and
download to your computer.
2. If you know what you want to sing, enter the name of an uptempo song that you know and like + the
word “karaoke” and websites that carry this karaoke track will appear.
A note on finding a song that is right for you: Choose a song that fits the strongest part of your voice. If you
struggle to hit the low notes or the high notes, you won’t have as much fun. Choose a song from a Broadway musical
if at all possible. Modern pop, rock, country, etc. are not really appropriate.
3. If you are a new singer, you should download the demonstration track too so that you will be able to
hear when you come enter, how long you pause and also hear the stylei n which the song is usually sung.
4. Burn a CD or download to your device. We will play your CD on our system or connect your device to our
system with an AV cord at auditions.
5. Once again, start memorizing early. Listen to the track over and over so that you are familiar with the
instrumentation. Learn the track like you learn your song. If you have trouble singing with the track, go back
to the demonstration track and listen how the voices fit with the instruments. If you are still trying to get
with the track at auditions, you will not be selling your song.
Act I
The Minstrel sings of the Princess and the Pea ("Many Moons Ago"), and tells the audience he was there when
it actually happened. The medieval kingdom in question is ruled by the devious Queen Aggravain and the
mute King Sextimus the Silent. King Sextimus suffers from a curse that can only be reversed "when the mouse
devours the hawk.” The Queen is testing Princess #12, wanna-be-bride to her son Dauntless the drab, with
another of her unfair quizzes. To the Queen's delight, the princess misses the last question and therefore is
unable to wed Dauntless. She is, however, still graciously awarded a consolation prize, a rubber chicken by Sir
Studley. The knights and ladies complain about the unjust law levied by Queen Aggravain: "Throughout the
land no one may wed, 'till Dauntless shares his wedding bed." (An Opening for A Princess).
The crisis escalates when the leading knight of the realm, Sir Harry, discovers that his girlfriend, Lady Larken, is
pregnant. Though Lady Larken says that she will run away so he will never have to face embarrassment and
the loss of his station, Sir Harry decides that he will set out to find a princess himself ("In a Little While"). He
petitions the Queen who immediately says no, but when Dauntless manages to speak up and beg, she gives in.
Sir Harry’s quest to find a true princess is a qualified success. Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, his highly
unlikely holy grail, is a brash and unrefined princess from the marshlands who is so eager to arrive that she
beats Sir Harry to the castle by swimming the moat. She immediately charms Dauntless, Sir Studley, the
knights and most of the kingdom (“Shy”). However, she also earns the utter loathing of the evil Queen, who
vows to stop her.
The King discovers Larken's pregnancy and pantomimes this to his confidantes, the Minstrel and the Jester. He
tells them to not say a word ("The Minstrel, the Jester, and I"). Later, the Queen, assisted by her Wizard
sidekick, designs a test for Winnifred based on something they are sure she hasn't got at all—"Sensitivity".
They will place a tiny pea beneath twenty thick downy mattresses. If Winnifred falls asleep, her wedding to
Dauntless is doomed.
Meanwhile, Winnifred tells Dauntless and the ladies in waiting about her home in the swamp ("The Swamps of
Home") and meets the King, and they immediately like each other. Later, Lady Larken mistakes her for a
chambermaid. Soon, Harry gets mad at Larken for her mistake and they get in a fight. Larken tells Sir Harry
that she is running away and that he will never see her again.
The King, the Minstrel and the Jester catch Larken trying to run away, and try to stop her (Normandy). Later
that night, the Queen throws a ball so Winnifred can dance the most exhausting dance in the world, (The
Spanish Panic). The Queen’s plan fails. Winnifred is the last one standing as everyone collapses from
exhaustion at the dance's climax. She asks Dauntless to try to give her a clue as to what the test might be, but
he's not sure. Winnifred mentions that her nickname is Fred and Dauntless sings of his love for her as she
practices numerous tasks she might have to do for the test, including singing, dancing, wrestling, acting,
playing the Minstrel's lute, pantomiming and drinking herself unconscious ("Song of Love").
Act II
Later that night the Queen leads the knights and ladies as they carry the twenty mattresses to Fred's room
("Quiet"), and she catches the Minstrel, the Jester, the King, and Larken (disguised in Dauntless' clothes)
running away. The Minstrel tries to protect Larken by saying he was escaping with Larken against her will. The
Queen declares that the Minstrel will be banished by daybreak. Fred and Dauntless study for the test, and
Fred convinces Larken to fix things with Harry. Larken leaves to find Harry, Dauntless bids Fred goodnight, and
now she is left alone. While studying a fairytale, she complains about how other fairy tale princesses had it
easy and how she wants to live "Happily Ever After". King Sextimus has a "Man to Man Talk" with Dauntless
about the birds and the bees completely in pantomime. The Jester and Minstrel trick the Wizard into telling
them of the test and the Jester reminisces about his father's dancing days ("Very Soft Shoes").
Sir Harry and Lady Larken run into each other and they confess that their love is stronger than ever
("Yesterday I Loved You"). When Fred is finally ready for bed, the Queen brings in various people, including the
Nightingale of Samarkand, to sing her to sleep ("Nightingale Lullaby") but Winnifred is kept wide awake. It
seems that there is some "lump" under the mattresses that is keeping her from relaxing. She starts counting
sheep.
Dauntless dresses in his finest to see Winnifred pass the test, but the Queen tells him to his great
disappointment that the test has already happened and what it was. Dauntless is heartbroken until Winnifred
drowsily stumbles into the throne room while still counting sheep. Everyone is ecstatic that Winnifred has
passed but the Queen insists that Dauntless shouldn't throw himself away on Winnifred. Dauntless has had
enough of his mother's attempts to control his life and finally yells, "I told you to shut up!". The curse on King
Sextimus is lifted (the "mouse"- Dauntless, has metaphorically devoured the "hawk"- Queen Aggravain).
Aggravain discovers that she cannot talk and the King can, so Dauntless and Winnifred are free to be married.
The King forces the Queen to hop, skip, and jump around the room to everyone's amusement.
Dauntless takes the pea out from under the mattress and she then falls asleep almost immediately. Everyone,
in classic fairy-tale tradition, lives…
happily ever after!!!