• 12,000 Miles of Travel
• 5,400 Audience Members
• 1,000 Pounds of Scenery
• 28 Cast Members
• 2 Years of Planning

The end result?

The first American Broadway musical performed in China.

Dean Adams, director of the NEO Theater from 1982–1989, lead his cast and crew on a groundbreaking, 19-day journey to Qingdao and Jinan, China during March break of 1987. That winter they played Once Upon a Mattress to sell out crowds in the NEO, fundraised over $40,000, and adjusted the production for greater appeal and acceptance with Chinese audiences. Their hard work was rewarded; in every city they performed, the actors brought the house down—even though those theaters were nearly ten times the size of the NEO. The show was a hit in Windsor, Connecticut, and in Shandong Province, China.

Adams took an earlier group of students to the United Kingdom to tour their production of The Dining Room. This inspired a more daring journey and one that ultimately would make history for the actors, the audiences, and Loomis Chaffee. 

Adams worked through the necessary American and Chinese government channels for trip approval and more importantly, approval of the NEO’s production. The playbill was crafted in both Chinese and English and included greetings from Governor William O’Neill, Headmaster John Ratte and William Ellis of the Connecticut Economic Development Corporation. Adams organized a lecture series to prepare his cast for the journey. History Department faculty members and George White (Loomis ’53), President of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and recent director of a Bejing production of O’Neill’s Anna Christie addressed the students. By the time spring break rolled around, the scenery had been crated for shipment and the actors were eager to embark on the trip.

All went according to plan until just hours before the first performance in Qingdao. Cast member Gannon Reilly (Loomis Chaffee ’87) recounted in a Loomis Chaffee Bulletin article that the cast was rehearsing for the evening show and
 

“[a]dding to the fright and anxiety that began to overtake the cast was the fact that the scenery was still missing. When last seen, both crates had been loaded into the back of a flatbed truck in Bejing and were headed towards Qingdao. The two drivers had been paid cash to drive overnight along dirt roads and back alleys to reach the theater. Tension grew when the scenery still had not arrived only 90 minutes before show time, but the show must go on. Plans were being made to perform the musical without scenery…. Suddenly the back doors of the theater flew open, and two Chinese men ran in with their hands flailing in the air. “It’s here!” Jubilant shouts and screams of joy echoed throughout the theater…. A chain of both Chinese men and students was formed from the back alley to the stage. Within 45 minutes the scenery was set up on stage.” Gannon Reilly ’87

Each of the three performances played to full theaters. Despite a language barrier, Reilly noted that every audience responded with delight to the show. Small children rushed the stage for better views, serious looks transformed to jovial laughter and crowds clapped along with the production’s music. After the curtain fell on the final performance, the cast found it hard to leave the show’s scenery behind in China. Dean Adams recorded in his journal that “kids cut swatches of the bed on the way out.”

The students also brought home memories of sightseeing at the Great Wall and in Bejing. They fondly recounted their conversations with English-speaking Chinese high school students, many interactions with Chinese children, and an appearance on Chinese television. This historical journey from the Island to The People’s Republic of China was also captured in a documentary, “Beyond the Wall” by filmmaker Carol Flaisher.