After the Cryers left, it was all systems go in preparing Abigail for her big performance in her high school musical. She had landed the star role of Winifred in Once Upon a Mattress, a broadway musical which is an adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale Princess and the Pea.
This was a very big deal, as you can imagine, but all the more so because although Abigail has been in many musicals, plays, concerts, music competitions, drama competitions, etc., she has never won any awards or been awarded any solos or a starring role in anything. And she has always dealt with the disappointment gracefully, and so much more gracefully than I think I ever could. She has always seen herself as a team player, doing her very best for the sake of the 'show', and has never shirked in a performance because she thought she deserved to be in a better role. I guess that shows a real love for her art, and also shows that although she can be a real drama queen/diva on the surface, deep down I think she is nothing of the sort.
So anyway, this was quite turning point in her career. She put in countless hours of rehearsals, practicing her songs at home, etc. I wasn't there for any of her rehearsals, so I really didn't know how much she was accomplishing or how good she was becoming at her role and her solos. So when we showed up at her performance on Friday night, I was absolutely floored by what I saw. She gave a completely captivating performance. I was mesmerized from the minute she got on stage until the end of the play. Her opening scene was so good, so authentic, and so funny that it actually made me cry. I was so taken with the whole thing that I dropped all my other commitments and made a special trip down on Saturday night to watch it for a second time - I couldn't stay away!
Here are some pictures from the play from beginning to end. In the opening scene, Winifred arrives at court by swimming the moat and climbing over the castle wall. So here is Abigail in her first entrance, dramatically huffing and puffing whilst climbing over the set wall:
 |
| Entering court by climbing over the wall |
It's a humorous scene, as Winifred is a very vivacious, fun-loving character, coming into court in a most unconventional way. She then sings a very funny song,
Shy, asking where the prince is whom she is supposed to marry. Between the dramatic entrance and this song, this scene really draws you in to the play. Abigail gave an impeccable performance, so much so that she won an award for this particular scene.
 |
| Singing Shy |
 |
| More Shy |
 |
| Shy |
 |
| Shy |
 |
| Shy |
After the song, Winifred and the scary Queen have a dialogue, in which Winifred realizes that she and the Queen might take a little while to become friends.
 |
| Winifred and the Queen |
Soon afterwards there is a scene in which Winifred talks about her home kingdom, which is located in a swamp. She sings a song,
Swamps of Home, in which she gets upset about being homesick. But it's also meant to be a funny song since her home is a swamp so she sings about missing the frogs, etc., and she imitates swamp sounds. The song demanded a lot of nuance, since Abigail was supposed to be sad at being homesick, but at the same time deliver a humorous performance about missing frogs, etc. She did it brilliantly - I laughed through the whole thing.
 |
| Swamps of Home |
 |
| Swamps of Home |
 |
| With Prince Dauntless and Winifred's Ladies in Waiting |
The next big scene with Winifred is when Winifred tells Dauntless to call her by her nickname, which is 'Fred'. This then leads to a fast-paced song,
Song of Love, about how wonderful 'Fred' is, in which she is supposed to showcase her many abilities. So Abigail had to run around the stage pretending to play the lute, lift weights, dance, and wrestle Dauntless. Abigail did it very tongue-in-cheek, acting as though she was doing these things well while in reality she was doing them very badly. It was very well done.
 |
| Song of Love |
 |
| Song of Love |
Abigail's next solo was
Happily Ever After, a song where Winifred complains about how all the other fairy tale characters have found true love except for her. Abigail was on the stage all alone for this number - not an easy feat, but she managed to keep us all enraptured
 |
| Happily Ever After |
 |
| Happily Ever After |
Soon after comes the pivotal scene where the Queen tries to get Winifred to sleep on the 20 mattresses ....
 |
| Winifred with her ladies in waiting and the Queen |
... but alas, this, of course, does not work, as Winifred is a true princess ...
 |
| Winifred tossing and turning atop the mattresses |
 |
| Winifred threatening the muse as she demands the muse stop singing |
In the final scene, Winifred emerges in the morning, exhausted by lack of sleep, and collapses on the floor in front of Dauntless.
 |
| Winifred with Dauntless |
He wakes her up momentarily to tell her the good news that she passed the Queen's test to see if she was a real princess ....
 |
| Winifred and Duauntless |
... and then she climbs back onto the bed and promptly falls asleep while the rest of the kingdom rejoices.
 |
| Winifred asleep with Dauntless |
 |
| Abigail and Paul (Dauntless) at the final applause |
There was all the usual after show congrats, flowers, gifts, hugs, well-wishing and etc. Abigail had many people wanting to congratulate her, all of which was well deserved. During the intermission and after the show it seemed that wherever I stood I overheard people speaking about her, talking about how good her performances was. No one knew I was her mother, which made the comments all the more remarkable. Tim, and I, were very very proud. It was a brilliant weekend.
 |
| Abigail and Imogen after the show |
 |
| All the family with our Abigail, plus Emilia our German exchange student |
 |
| Last but certainly not least, Abigail with Mrs. Morris, her incredible drama teacher and mentor. |
