By Kristin Holtz, Staff Writer

Once upon a time in a faraway land, a fretful princess spent a night atop 20 mattresses, tossing and turning this way and that in the desperate hope of getting a little shut eye.

OK, so it wasn’t just a pea. And the princess wasn’t exactly your prototypical royalty. And there might have been an unexpected pregnancy integrated into the subplot.

Get the real scoop on “The Princess and The Pea” fairytale when the Shakopee High School Drama Department presents its fall musical “Once Upon A Mattress.”

“Once Upon A Mattress” tells the previously untold story behind “The Princess and The Pea.”

Queen Aggravain, who runs her kingdom with an iron fist, has set about a dictate saying no one can marry until her spoiled son, Prince Dauntless, walks down the aisle. Trouble is, no one can pass the Queen’s extreme tests to marry the Prince.'Once Upon' rehearsal

Then along comes, Princess Winnifred, an out-of-place princess who captures the heart of the Prince. While she might not walk, talk or act like a princess, she isn’t afraid of letting her true self show through.

“You think that you know who the Princess is and this shows you you have no idea,” said Cate Bruns, who plays Winnifred.

The Queen decides to test whether Winnifred is true royalty by forcing her to sleep upon a small pea, tucked under 20 mattresses. Only if Winnifred endures a sleepless and fretful night will she prove to be a real, sensitive princess.

While that might be the heart of the story, there’s much more going on behind the scenes in this medieval castle.

Div Shukla and Miah Winterfeldt play a knight and lady, who unexpectedly find themselves in the family way. However, they cannot marry until the Prince does.

While Sir Harry and Lady Larken’s situation may be grown up, their characters resemble a high school jock and cheerleaders, the actors said.

“He’s the main popular guy; she’s the main popular girl,” Winterfeldt said. “She’s just totally in love with the idea of him.”

For Shukla and Winterfeldt this is their first time on the stage. Both actors said they had always wanted to perform in a high school play but never had the time. Now as seniors, it was something they couldn’t pass up.

“I wanted to be on stage,” Shukla said. “And I have learned, surprisingly, that I could sing.”

For Nate Clay, who plays the Wizard, the Queen’s right-hand man, this is his first time singing on stage, too. He said the music is aggressive, and while it doesn’t always sound pretty, it goes a long way in telling the tale.

“Once Upon A Mattress” is at its heart a comedy, the students said. The language is witty, quipping and rather risqué, filled with its share of sexual innuendos.

Bruns said it’s not a far stretch to see her sarcastic self in Winnifred.

“It’s kind of like being myself on stage,” she said.

Callie Nesgoda said her role as Queen Aggravain is the complete opposite of her personality. The queen is self-centered, demanding and very controlling, particularly toward her son, played by Brandon Salden.

“She has a leash on him,” Nesgoda said.

Clay said the characters in “Once Upon A Mattress” are taken to the extreme, such as King Sextimus the Silent, played by Nathaniel Leonard, who not surprisingly is mute; however, they might be more familiar than the audience may expect.

For while the play might have a different name, it’s really a new perspective on an old tale, Shukla said.

“Sure [Princess Winnifred] doesn’t fit the princess stereotype, but she’s herself and Dauntless loves her for that,” Winterfeldt said.

Kristin Holtz can be reached at (952) 345-6678 or kholtz@swpub.com.

If you go…
What: Shakopee High School Drama Department presents “Once Upon A Mattress,” the real story of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Princess and The Pea.”
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13, 14, 20, 21 and 2 p.m. Nov. 22
Where: Shakopee High School auditorium
Admission: $6 adults, $4 students. Activity passes redeem two tickets. Tickets are on sale from 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 2-5 and Nov. 10-12 at the high school or 90 minutes prior to performances.