'ONCE UPON A MATRESS' (REVIEW)

Beautiful princesses have come from across the land in hope of marrying Prince Dauntless, but his domineering mother the Queen has devised tests so severe that the court is in a tizzy. The law of the kingdom prevents anyone from marrying until the has wed, and the Queen is making sure that's to be a long, long time off.

This is the setup for "Once Upon a Mattress," a musical based on the fairytale "The Princess and the Pea." The show is short on familiar songs, but the Notre Dame Regional High School production is dazzlingly costumed and adroitly performed by the large cast. Young women in spectacular gowns and young men in tights dance the Spanish Panic and hope that a savior appears. Some have reason to be more desperate than others.

The show opens at 8 tonight and continues Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Janel Mason is wonderful and deliciously disagreeable as Queen Aggravain, who is not above trickery in devising royalty tests that prove no one is good enough to marry her son, Dauntless (Paul Unterreiner). Mason patrols the stage like someone who knows she owns every board of it. "Good-bye, good luck, get out," she barks at one would-be bride.

Her nemesis is Winnifred (Jean Stoverink), a princess who comes all the way from the swamps to win Prince Dauntless. "Fred" is just the moat-swimming, weightlifting, hard-drinking beauty required to take Dauntless away from the Queen.

Stoverink has a fine voice and carries her role with great charm. "I want some happily ever after to happen to me," she sings winningly.

A sophomore in his first stage role ever, Unterreiner makes a valiant and appealing prince whose blooming love for Winnifred finally enables him to overcome the will of his bossy mother. Growth is in the air.

As Lady Larken, the impregnated Lady waiting to get married, Jill Eichhorn sings beautifully, especially on the lovely "Yesterday I Loved You," a duet with her beloved, Sir Harry (Michael Sirimaturos). Sirimaturos is an appealing actor who played Bud Frump in last year's "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."

Matt Frey drew a nonspeaking role in King Sextimus the Silent. The King is mute because of a spell but expresses through improvised sign language all we need to know about his feelings toward the Queen and toward his kitchen wenches.

Bradley Bohannon as the Minstrel, Matthew Long as the Jester and Blake Heuring as the Wizard are fine in three roles that are crucial to advancing the action. Again, their costumes are remarkable.

Appearing as ladies, kitchen wenches or princesses are Caroline Mueller, Sarah Vickery, Liesl Schoenberger, Amy Essner, Kelly Jones, Susan Layton, Maggie Devaney, Melissa Enderle, Casie Janet, Layne Strattman, Amber Winkler, Jennifer Stout, Jessica Morrow and Amanda Sharp as the beautifully plumed Nightingale.

The male side of the court is portrayed by Scott Enderle, Phillip Davidson, Ben Essner, David Jaquith, Stephen Schwartz, Courtland Kohlfeld, Jordan Kuper and Rick Smith.

Director Cynthia King has marshaled her nearly 150 actors, actresses and stage crew members skillfully once again, and vocal music director Ellen Seyer gets good work from her singers. King's castle set is especially smart.

The orchestra is composed of Lenny Kuper, Dr. Dan Cotner, Kathy Swan, John Quinn, Ann Welker, Ron Nall, Narvol Randol, Rob Jiles, Erik Scott, Tim Cannon and Dan Dunavan. The director is Jim Hindman.