Cristal Rincon
Website Editor
Amid the spread of COVID-19, the school musical “Once Upon a Mattress” has been postponed, and many questions are still up in the air about its opening.
The musical was originally scheduled for the weekends of March 20 and March 27. It was almost ready to open, with only microphones, costumes, and the orchestra left to add. However, due to LAUSD’s decision to keep schools closed until May, “Once Upon a Mattress” joined countless shows all across the country that had to close down their productions.
“Obviously, it’s extremely frustrating,” said director John Tourtellotte. “Countless hours of dedicated, disciplined work put in by the cast, the crew, and Dr. Sannah’s students to bring this musical to life, and we were almost there.”
The cast had been hard at work, rehearsing weekly since the beginning of second semester, with PAM sophomore Morgan Rhone and PAM senior Hannah Barukh leading the cast as Prince Dauntless and Princess Winnifred. Working alongside Tourtellotte was assistant director and PAM senior Zoe Schiller, choreographer Jessie Holder Tourtellotte, and musical director Lisa Hertzner.
Despite the disappointment of the cast and crew, Tourtellotte assures that the theatre department of Hollywood High is “alive and thriving”, and “will continue to grow”.
As of now, there are no rescheduled dates for the musical. Final decisions will be planned out depending on what the rest of the school year looks like. If given enough time, three to two weeks of heavy-duty rehearsals will take place before the show opens.
To the audiences looking forward to watching “Once Upon a Mattress” after the quarantine, Tourtellotte says, “You can expect to see a theatrical phoenix that will rise from the ashes of postponement and Shelter-In-Place with a level of joyous abandon that will be impossible to explain.”