What a feeling it is to be back in a theater! After a year of cancelations and virtual performances, it’s a relief and a joy to return to live shows. There’s something so special about performers and audience members sharing the storytelling experience live, reacting to and energizing each other. I missed it, and judging from the enthusiasm of the audience at Ashland Productions’ Shrek the Musical, I’m not alone. Of course, it helps that Shrek is a very entertaining show! It’s a great show for community theaters because it’s a fun one for actors (and there are so many roles!) and it’s enjoyable for kids and adults alike to see it.
Ashland Productions is coming into this season in full force, with three musicals scheduled over the summer. They must have started production of Shrek without knowing what regulations on masks and distancing would look like, and while I think audiences would still have shown up under any conditions, it’s nice that the majority of the actors were able to be unmasked and that the cast didn’t have to worry about keeping distanced from each other. With vaccines not yet available for all ages, there were masked performers in the show, but the masks didn't interfere with the performances. Plus, as a nice touch, the masks were coordinated with the characters, providing animal features or colorful accents to the costumes.
Director Rob Sutherland made strong choices with this show from the casting to the staging. Shrek usually involves some doubling up of roles, because there are so many characters and so many crowd scenes, but Sutherland cast a large group of people and spread them out. One of the results was a very strong ensemble of guards and knights, a group that spends most of their time in the background of scenes. As written, the knights who sing backup for the dragon are chained to the walls and therefore not very mobile, but it was a great choice in this production to turn the song into a full-on dance number. There were also some staging moments that I found very compelling. For example, Sutherland kept Donkey on stage for the beginning of “Build a Wall,” turning Shrek’s angry soliloquy into a rant (like so many Donkey had listened to up to this point), until Shrek turned around to find that Donkey had finally given up and left.
Credit goes to Vocal Director Chad Garrels for the quality of the singing throughout the show. Everyone sounded good and the harmonies and backup vocals never got lost in the mix. The trios in particular were strong and well-balanced (including the three Fionas, the Blind Mice, and the Three Pigs). Choreographer Dylan Rugh filled the show with high-energy, entertaining dances. Although I'm a fan of the original style of tap-dancing mice, Rugh's take on "Morning Person" was clever and well-executed. I particularly enjoyed the knights dancing during "Forever," but I also found the fairy tale ensemble's dance numbers to be very fun. And did I spy a little (Tiktok-inspired?) “Rich Man’s Frug” in a Duloc number?
Brad Camitsch’s scenic design was uncomplicated in a nice way, letting Jacob Lee Hofer’s colorful lighting set the mood. I absolutely loved the way that moving pieces were used to create scenery; having actors create castle scenery around Shrek during the dragon scene was a great way to create a sense of different spaces. The costumes were designed by Jessica Hughes, and my favorite look was the dragon’s. The dragon pieces that the actress wore were a good blend of practical (allowing her to move freely) and dragon-esque, but I also found that the styling of the actress really worked for me. The masks worn by some of the cast were also great work; I really liked the Mortal Kombat look that they gave the guards, for example. I would also be remiss not to note that the wigs in this show looked very good, which is incredibly rare in community theater.
As Shrek, Tony Peterson showed off an impressive range; besides being an excellent singer, he brought serious nuance to his vocal performance. I could hear as well as see the difference in Shrek’s emotional state between “Big Bright Beautiful World,” “When Words Fail,” and “Build a Wall.” Matthew Hall as Donkey had excellent comic timing and was very physically expressive. He made the demanding role of Shrek's overly energetic companion look easy. Sarah Shervey played Fiona with an unlikely innocence. Like Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, she bought fully into her fairy tale dream and remained un-jaded by, in this case, twenty years of disappointment. It's not the only possible take on Fiona, but it worked, and it did make it hard not to sympathize with her optimistic determination to pursue her happy ending. Shervey also brought a lot of vocal power to songs like "I Know It's Today."
One last note, coming from someone who might be a little too familiar with this show and therefore fixates on small moments too much, is that this is probably my favorite rendition yet of the “Hope” song (a song so small it doesn’t even make it into the song list in the program). This is the song in which the fairy tale creatures beg Shrek to help them; it is a difficult song and a difficult piece of a scene, in part because a large group is singing and moving and the Wolf (a bass!) has to deliver some funny lines over the top of that. It’s not a very important moment in the scheme of things, and it goes by quickly. But this rendition, which included silly choreography, was entertaining while also balanced enough (in staging and in sound) for the Wolf’s lines to hit and for the audience to process the joke. I was happy to see the scene work so well.
In conclusion, this production was a good reminder that the same familiar show can still have surprises. Ashland Productions brought some new ideas while keeping true to the energy and joy that make Shrek such an enjoyable show to watch.
Ashland Productions is coming into this season in full force, with three musicals scheduled over the summer. They must have started production of Shrek without knowing what regulations on masks and distancing would look like, and while I think audiences would still have shown up under any conditions, it’s nice that the majority of the actors were able to be unmasked and that the cast didn’t have to worry about keeping distanced from each other. With vaccines not yet available for all ages, there were masked performers in the show, but the masks didn't interfere with the performances. Plus, as a nice touch, the masks were coordinated with the characters, providing animal features or colorful accents to the costumes.
Director Rob Sutherland made strong choices with this show from the casting to the staging. Shrek usually involves some doubling up of roles, because there are so many characters and so many crowd scenes, but Sutherland cast a large group of people and spread them out. One of the results was a very strong ensemble of guards and knights, a group that spends most of their time in the background of scenes. As written, the knights who sing backup for the dragon are chained to the walls and therefore not very mobile, but it was a great choice in this production to turn the song into a full-on dance number. There were also some staging moments that I found very compelling. For example, Sutherland kept Donkey on stage for the beginning of “Build a Wall,” turning Shrek’s angry soliloquy into a rant (like so many Donkey had listened to up to this point), until Shrek turned around to find that Donkey had finally given up and left.
Credit goes to Vocal Director Chad Garrels for the quality of the singing throughout the show. Everyone sounded good and the harmonies and backup vocals never got lost in the mix. The trios in particular were strong and well-balanced (including the three Fionas, the Blind Mice, and the Three Pigs). Choreographer Dylan Rugh filled the show with high-energy, entertaining dances. Although I'm a fan of the original style of tap-dancing mice, Rugh's take on "Morning Person" was clever and well-executed. I particularly enjoyed the knights dancing during "Forever," but I also found the fairy tale ensemble's dance numbers to be very fun. And did I spy a little (Tiktok-inspired?) “Rich Man’s Frug” in a Duloc number?
Brad Camitsch’s scenic design was uncomplicated in a nice way, letting Jacob Lee Hofer’s colorful lighting set the mood. I absolutely loved the way that moving pieces were used to create scenery; having actors create castle scenery around Shrek during the dragon scene was a great way to create a sense of different spaces. The costumes were designed by Jessica Hughes, and my favorite look was the dragon’s. The dragon pieces that the actress wore were a good blend of practical (allowing her to move freely) and dragon-esque, but I also found that the styling of the actress really worked for me. The masks worn by some of the cast were also great work; I really liked the Mortal Kombat look that they gave the guards, for example. I would also be remiss not to note that the wigs in this show looked very good, which is incredibly rare in community theater.
As Shrek, Tony Peterson showed off an impressive range; besides being an excellent singer, he brought serious nuance to his vocal performance. I could hear as well as see the difference in Shrek’s emotional state between “Big Bright Beautiful World,” “When Words Fail,” and “Build a Wall.” Matthew Hall as Donkey had excellent comic timing and was very physically expressive. He made the demanding role of Shrek's overly energetic companion look easy. Sarah Shervey played Fiona with an unlikely innocence. Like Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, she bought fully into her fairy tale dream and remained un-jaded by, in this case, twenty years of disappointment. It's not the only possible take on Fiona, but it worked, and it did make it hard not to sympathize with her optimistic determination to pursue her happy ending. Shervey also brought a lot of vocal power to songs like "I Know It's Today."
Thomas Friebe's Lord Farquaad was petty and childish, an excellent foil to the earnest heroes. As the Dragon, Brittany Ringsdore was a real powerhouse and an audience favorite. Cody Olson and Kaitlyn Callahan gave strong performances as Pinocchio and Gingy, leading a very capable ensemble of fairy tale creatures. This ensemble brought a lot of energy and spirit to "Freak Flag" and "I'm a Believer." I was also impressed with the work from the knight/guard ensemble (who, I believe, performed the role of "bridge" at one point) and the Blind Mice (who nailed the singing and the choreography in "Make a Move").
One last note, coming from someone who might be a little too familiar with this show and therefore fixates on small moments too much, is that this is probably my favorite rendition yet of the “Hope” song (a song so small it doesn’t even make it into the song list in the program). This is the song in which the fairy tale creatures beg Shrek to help them; it is a difficult song and a difficult piece of a scene, in part because a large group is singing and moving and the Wolf (a bass!) has to deliver some funny lines over the top of that. It’s not a very important moment in the scheme of things, and it goes by quickly. But this rendition, which included silly choreography, was entertaining while also balanced enough (in staging and in sound) for the Wolf’s lines to hit and for the audience to process the joke. I was happy to see the scene work so well.
In conclusion, this production was a good reminder that the same familiar show can still have surprises. Ashland Productions brought some new ideas while keeping true to the energy and joy that make Shrek such an enjoyable show to watch.
This show WAS fabulous!!! Everyone deserves a standing ovation!!
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