150 Youth to Appear in ONCE UPON A MATTRESS Next Week at Columbia Children's Theatre

As twisted fairytales go, Once Upon a Mattress may be the most twisted of them all! Join Columbia Children's Theatre's (CCT) YouTheatre as 150 children present the 1959 Broadway smash that made Carol Burnette a star July 31st - August 9th.

Performances are Fridays at 7:00 pm, Saturdays at 11:00 am and 3:00 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm. General admission tickets are $10.00 and $8.00 for active military and seniors with proper ID. Advance ticket purchases are strongly recommended and may be purchased securely on-line at www.columbiachildrenstheatre.com. All shows take place at Columbia Children's Theatre on the second floor of Richland Mall, 3400 Forest Drive in beautiful Forest Acres.

This is definitely not your mother's Princess or her Pea! In this musical version of the Hans Christian Andersen tale of "The Princess and the Pea", Princess Winnifred actually swims the castle moat to get to her Prince Dauntless the Drab, and the King has been struck silent by an ancient curse. The Queen, aptly-named Aggravain is a doting mother of epic proportions and no one in the kingdom is allowed to marry until her son Dauntless does. Unfortunately the young lovers, Sir Harry and Lady Larkin, have no time to spare!

Originally conceived as a one-act musical entertainment for a resort in the Catskills, Once Upon A Mattress went on to run for 460 performances on Broadway, toured nationally and was revived in 1996 with Sarah Jessica Parker. With music by Mary Rogers and a book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller and Marshall Barrer, Once Upon A Mattress consistently ranks among the top 30 titles licensed by the Rogers and Hammerstein publishers each year. The show is directed by CCT Artistic Director Jerry Stevenson, with choreography by Crystal Aldamuy and musical direction by Paul Lindley II.

150 young Midlands actors in two different casts (Pillow Top and Sleep Number) will portray the zany characters over two weekends.

The "Sleep Number" cast performs July 31st- August 2nd and features Noah Barker, Nicholas Beitz, Zachary Beitz, Micaiah Bouknight, Rubi Bouknight, Max Brabham, Caroline Brandes, Alex Cone, Elizabeth Crosby, Megan Crutchfield, Cooper Dempsey, Cate Dingeldine, Courtney Hope Diveley, Laila Dixon, Favour Ekechukwu, Absalom Fischer, Miriam Fischer, Jordan Fritts, Adelle Fuller, Kaitlyn Fuller, Kennedi Gatson, Bella Guido, Giovanni Guido, Maggie Hamilton, Georgie Harrington, Franklin Harris, Kyeem Harris, Matthew Harter, Chase Hastings, Paden Herbig, David Jeffrey, Kimarrie Jones, Charlotte Jordan, Lyra Jordan, Aislyn Kerwin, Clare Kerwin, Emily Leitner, Ruth Leitner, Delaney LeRoy, Jacob Maresh, Machia Mason, Mahogany McCreary, Robert McCreary, Khaleb McIntosh, Henry Melkomian, Lily Montoya, Abby Mueller, Sarah Mueller, Olivia Murray, Emma Myers, Peyton Myers, Toby O'Connor, Miriam (MJ) Page, Lucinda Pringle, Gabi Rentz, Greylyn Rentz, Mason Robinson, Annabelle Stevenson, Cort Stevenson, Ashton Stokes, Garrett Stokes, Brianna Surface, Mac Thames, Kristen Toole, Sydney Vaught, Carter Verwers, Jonas Verwers, Kamille Whaley, Paesli Wilson, and Maddison Yates.

The "Pillow Top" cast performs August 7-9 and features Ian Aitken, Josie Aitken, Brooks Bell, Madison Bell, Lauryn Bethea, Madyson Bethea, Michael Bethea, Jaxin Black, Mya Black, Ezra Block, Noah Block, Riley Brazell, Anna Brooks, Addie Brown, Eliza Brown, Zarina Cameron, Greer Cantrell, Kaylee Chen, Lauren Chen, Kayla Chiles, Kira Chiles, Carolyn Coffey, Collins Coffey, Abby Collins, Aubri Collins, Laura Collins, Ian Daugherty, Lindsey Daugherty, Will Daugherty, Zac Davis, Marissa Derrick, Cate Dingeldine, Courtney Hope Diveley, Joshua Diveley, Taylor Diveley, James DuPlessis, Ben Edwards-Lehman, Molly Edwards-Lehman, Isabella Fleischer, Sam Fleischer, Sydney Gardner-McCrossin, Samantha Gaskin, Susannah Gaskin, Peyton Gleaton, Delia Glover, Deonna Glover, Alex Goodwin, Taylen Goodwin, Rose Gowans, Katie McConnell, Sam McConnell, Cole McFaden, Charlotte McNesby, Madeline McNesby, Sarah McNesby, Baker Morrison, Summer O'Brien, Leila Pregnall, Nathaniel Riley, Luke Schrader, Mary Smith, Sami Specht, Cort Stevenson, Gracie Tanner, Luke Tanner, Annie Varner, Will Varner, and Sophia Velassquez.

Columbia Children's Theatre is a professional resident not-for-profit theatre dedicated to providing quality live theatre experiences for families and young audiences, and is supported in part by the City of Forest Acres, The Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties and the South Carloina Arts Commission, which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Pictured: Noah Barker (Wizard), Georgie Harrington (Winnifred), Kaitlyn Fuller (Queen Aggravain), Sam Fleischer (Jester) and Taylor Diveley (Minstrel).