Category Archives: Once Upon a Mattress

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USP’s “Mattress” Cleans Up at ICTA Awards

The cast dances till they drop in the Spanish Panic!

Union Street Players continued to show why we’re “Pella’s Award-Winning Community Theatre” on Saturday night. USP’s production of Once Upon a Mattress picked up five of the Iowa Community Theatre Association’s (ICTA) 11 annual awards at the annual convention in Cedar Rapids. USP’s award winners were:

  • Outstanding Music Direction: Brystal Hopkins and Ashlee Whittington
  • Outstanding Lead Actress: Anne McCullough Kelly
  • Outstanding Scenic Design: Brystal Hopkins, Matt Kelly, and Dan Fynaardt
  • Outstanding Costume Design: Lori Vande Zande and Kathy VanNorden
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress: Nicole Vande Zande

Congratulations to all the winners!

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Once Upon a Mattress is a Royal Success!

 

Union Street Players (USP) production of Once Upon a Mattress closed on July 31 after a successful four-show run. The musical delighted USP audiences. Attendance figures for the shows were:

Thu: 208
Fri: 200
Sat: 167
Sun: 224

Total: 799

Congratulations to Brystal Hopkins who helmed a USP production for the first time with first-time producer Ashlee Whittington. The stellar cast and crew included plenty of USP veterans along with a number of people making their debut in a USP production.

Congratulations to all on an outstanding show!

Side note: The ingenious set, designed by Dan Fynaardt and painted by a crew helmed by Mat Kelly caught the eye of one audience member who is the theatre teacher at Dike-New Hartford High School. The school is renting the set for their fall production of the show!

 

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See “Once Upon a Mattress” this Weekend!

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Union Street Players production of the classic Broadway musical “Once Upon a Mattress” will be performed this weekend! Don’t miss your chance to laugh and be entertained by Pella’s award-winning community theatre. This musical retelling of the classic fairy tale The Princess and the Pea is sure to delight audience members of all ages. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at the door of any performance ($15). All seats for this show are General Admission. Doors open one-half hour prior to curtain.

Thursday, July 28 @ 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Friday, July 29 @ 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Saturday, July 30 @ 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Sunday, July 31 @ 2:00 p.m. (doors open at 1:30)

Performances are on the stage of the Joan Kuyper Farver Auditorium in the Pella Community Center (712 Union Street).

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Get Tickets for “Once Upon a Mattress”

The curtain on Union Street Players’ production of “Once Upon a Mattress” is set to rise on Thursday, July 28 and it has never been easier to get your tickets for this classic American musical.

For the first time, USP is selling tickets to this family friendly musical through multiple outlets. You can even purchase tickets at the customer service counter at Pella’s Hy-Vee! You can also talk to cast and crew members who can provide tickets for you. As always, tickets are available at the Pella Community Services office in the Pella Community Center (M-F 7:30-11:30 a.m. or 12:30-4:30 p.m.). Tickets may also be purchased by phone using Visa, Mastercard or Discover; simply call Tom or Wendy at 641-620-9107.

“Once Upon a Mattress” is the musical retelling of “The Princess and Pea” and was made famous on Broadway by Carol Burnett. The musical launched Burnett to stardom and the classic tale is as fresh and fun as ever. Tickets are only $10 in advance. No where in central Iowa can you find such great live theatre for such a bargain price!

Get your tickets today!

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Auditions for “Once Upon a Mattress” Begin!

Auditions for USP’s summer musical, “Once Upon a Mattress” start on Saturday March 14th and will continue on Monday night, March 16th with call backs scheduled on Tuesday, March 17th.

In an effort to be mindful of everyone’s time, Director Brystal Hopkins plans to schedule auditions in blocks of time. This will hopefully eliminate the possibility of people sitting around for long periods of time waiting to be called into the audition. There is no need to sign-up ahead of time for a particular audition group. Simply choose when you’d like to audition on one of the two days and show up shortly before your desired group time in order to fill out an audition sheet.

Auditions
Sat. May 14 – Please show up in time for an audition group: 8:15 – 10 am, 9:00 – 11:30 am, or 10 am – 12:30 pm
Mon. May 16 – Please show up in time for an audition group: 5:45 – 8:15 or 6:45 – 9:15
Tues. May 17 – Call backs 6 – 9 pm

Auditions will include basic vocal, choreography, and stage pieces.  No prepared pieces required. A limited number of perusal scripts are available at the library.

Rehearsals scheduled for most M, T, and Th evenings and Saturday mornings from May 21 – July. (not all actors needed at every rehearsal)

All roles are for agest 14 and up. There are no roles for children younger than 14 years of age!

Please contact Brystal Hopkins (brystalhopkins@gmail.com) with questions.