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Sophomore Ashtyn Faas as Queen Aggravain lectures her son, Prince Dauntless the Drab (ninth grader Finn Ellingwood) on the finer points of finding a suitable princess in a scene from Mount Greylock's upcoming production of 'Once Upon a Mattress.'

Mount Greylock Presents 'Once Upon a Mattress'

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional School District will present its annual musical theater production on Friday and Saturday, March 9 and 10, at 7 p.m. at the ’62 Centre for Theatre and Dance at Williams College.

This year's presentation is "Once Upon a Mattress" by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer with music by Mary Rodgers and lyrics by Marshall Barer. Based on the Hans Christian Anderson story of "The Princess and The Pea," "Once Upon a Mattress" takes place in a fictitious 15th century European kingdom. In this hilarious tweaking of the fairy tale, Queen Aggravain (MGRHS sophomore Ashtyn Faas) has ruled that none may marry until her son, Prince Dauntless the Drab (freshman Finn Ellingwood), marries. However, she has managed to sabotage every princess that comes along. When Sir Harry and Lady Larken (seniors Jacob Hane and Cedar Keyes) learn that they are going to be parents, wed or not, he goes off to the swamps and brings back Princess Winnifred (ninth-grader Ruth Weaver) or "Fred" to her friends. The queen is horrified and immediately begins to scheme with the help of her trusty Wizard (junior Morgan Nottke), but Winnifred - with some help from Sir Harry, the mute King (senior Sabrina Templeton), the Minstrel (freshman Victoria Melkonyan) and the Jester (seventh-grader Sam Tucker-Smith) - isn't going to be quite so easy to get rid of.  

Beginning its Broadway run in May of 1959, "Once Upon a Mattress" marked the Broadway debut of later TV personality Carol Burnett, who originated the role of Princess Winnifred. The musical received a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical as well as a Best Leading Actress nomination for Burnett. It has been adapted and produced for television three times since. With a score that is at once whimsical and rollicking, with a healthy helping of tongue in cheek, "Once Upon a Mattress" features songs that have become musical theater favorites such as "Shy," "In a Little While," "Normandy" and "I Want to Live Happily Ever After."

This production involves more than 40 members of the Mount Greylock student body as actors, singers, pit musicians and crew members, and is directed for the 19th season by faculty member Jeffrey Welch, assisted by program alumna Amanda Bell Goldmakher with vocal direction by Jean Kirsch, choreography by Ann Marie Rodriguez. The pit orchestra, which is made up mostly of student musicians, is directed by Lyndon Moors.
Tickets are $6 for students and seniors and $8 for adults, and they are available at the door on the nights of the performances.

 


Tags: high school musical,   MGRHS,   

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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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