A Playful and Exuberant "Shrek" at Chaska Valley Family Theatre

What’s an ogre to do when a bunch of fairy tale creatures are dumped on his swamp? Earn the deed back from the megalomaniacal lord who put them there by rescuing a princess from a dragon, of course! But not without the help of a talkative donkey, and not without learning a thing or two along the way. Shrek: The Musical (based on the 2001 animated film) is a mainstay of the community theater scene, and I’m sure not complaining. It’s a show with strong characters, plentiful jokes, and even some actual emotional heft. I am losing count of the number of times I’ve seen it (seven, maybe?), but I’ll keep showing up for it, because I know I'm always in for a good time with this show.

I’ve been to a couple of shows at Chaska Valley Family Theatre, and I was glad to be back with them in the spacious theater at Chanhassen High School (the previous show, Bright Star, was in a smaller space with less comfortable seating). One thing that surprised me even before the show began was the director’s note; fitting the content of the show, the note was themed around farts. That's all I'll say about it; if you attended the show and skipped over the note, let this be your admonishment to take your time reading the program in the future!

Kevin Berg directed CVFT’s Shrek (and wrote the program note), and had lots of interesting staging moments; I liked the way Shrek trapped Fiona back in the storybook in the opening, and it was a delightful surprise when Shrek climbed up from the pit on his way into Fiona’s tower. One of the trickiest scenes in the show is the “Travel Song” – it has a lot of little jokes that go by too quickly or don’t make much sense out of context. Berg wisely cut the Lion King reference and lengthened some of the other fairy tale cameos, giving the audience enough time to process and appreciate what was happening. One thing that didn’t work for me was in the dragon scene; I understand putting the vocalist on stage with the puppet, but I would have preferred for Donkey to only interact with one version of the dragon during the scene. Under Clarissa Geske’s vocal direction, there were so many great solo performances, and the ensemble had a nice full sound in songs like “Freak Flag” and the finale. One thing I appreciated was the thoughtful and clever ways fat-shaming lines were replaced in “Don’t Let Me Go”; instead of listing “donuts and diabetes” as an example of a strong duo, Donkey sang about “tacos and margaritis,” which is more sensitive and way more charming. Claire Torrey conducted the orchestra, which had a big satisfying sound (just what I wanted). Rachel Raeon’s choreography was consistently entertaining, from the sudden snappy cheerfulness of “The Goodbye Song” to the fun and jazzy “Morning Person.” Some particularly funny details included the shortest guards in “What’s Up, Duloc?” attempting to lift Lord Farquaad, and the guards trying to teach Thelonius the dance moves in “The Ballad of Farquaad.”

Steve Hermansen’s scenic design focused on a base castle wall, which served with slight changes as Farquaad’s castle, the dragon’s castle, and a cathedral. Coming late in the show, the cathedral wall with its beautiful stained glass windows was a cool surprise. Fiona’s tower was a nice versatile piece, and the pictures of other Disney princes up on the wall were a nice touch. Jon Christensen designed the sound and lighting, and finally gave me a show that felt loud enough; both the orchestra and the vocals had real oomph without competing with each other. The lighting was bold in scenes like the dragon’s castle and “Morning Person,” and I thought the lighting on the sides of the house was a very cool effect in the way it coordinated in color and movement with the scene on stage. Hannah Johnson’s costumes included some fun takes on the fairy tale creatures, from the tattooed witch to the pigs wearing pork-themed t-shirts. I would have liked a longer cape on Farquaad to cover the actor’s feet better and improve the illusion; meanwhile, the dragon vocalist looked absolutely amazing in her flame-tone dress, and I appreciated the variation on Shrek’s look, which was a little cleaner and more put-together than his original cartoon look.

Michael Wesely came out strong as Shrek from the first moment, with a big sound and a big presence. Wesely’s Shrek started out gruff, impassive, and resistant to making connections. Over time, he gradually opened up, and Wesely played those moments with a resistance that brought out Shrek’s struggle between his long-practiced impulses and his new feelings. Wesely had power and a nice tone in all of Shrek’s songs, but my favorite from him was “Who I’d Be,” which was an emotional moment of honesty for the character. Amanda Marquis was all over the map as Fiona – normally this would not be a compliment, but I thought her chaotic energy made total sense as a side effect of Fiona’s trauma, and she may be the funniest Fiona I've seen on stage. Marquis’ performance was often surprising and always engaging. She took on all of Fiona’s songs with ease, but I was most impressed with “I Think I Got You Beat,” where she and Wesely had a great rock sound. Conor Johnson had new takes on some of Donkey’s jokes and felt like a fresh version of a character I’ve seen many times before. His Donkey was irrepressible, innocent, and playful, and was especially fun to watch with his slick dancing in “Make a Move.” The Shrek/Donkey and Shrek/Fiona relationships really worked for me because Wesely's Shrek was such a solid straight man for the wild energy of the other two. In both duos, the actors had a strong on-stage connection, and as a trio, Wesely, Marquis, and Johnson sounded great together in the stirring “Who I’d Be.”

As the voice of the dragon, Kenny Winship brought the house down with her powerful “Forever.” Winship has amazing vocal strength and resonance and kept the audience engaged from beginning to end. The dragon puppet was satisfyingly big and flashy, and while I wish it had moved around the stage more, the puppeteers did great work animating the creature. Sara Cross worked the head/neck/face, and without having actual control over the mouth was able to match the vocals surprisingly well. (As far as I could tell, the mouth was only moved by bouncing the whole head up and down, which means that Cross’ task required both physical strength and practiced timing.) Joshua Malley sounded great across Farquaad’s range, including the very low parts of “The Ballad of Farquaad.” Malley brought out Farquaad’s self-indulgence and sense of drama; “What’s Up, Duloc?” got more and more entertaining as he played with the character and his place in the spotlight more. As Farquaad, Malley never seemed to walk but only scurry on and off stage, which was a very funny visual.

Heather Holt nailed Pinocchio’s scratchy, high-pitched voice, and I enjoyed the disjointed physicality of her puppet dance moves. Holt’s sincere vulnerability at the beginning of “Freak Flag” was key to the emotional heft of the song. Elijah Hager is the first adult man I’ve seen in the role of Gingy, but very quickly I had to admit that there’s something that works about playing against type here; Hager’s Gingy was large and mustached, which made a funny juxtaposition with the character’s high voice (and the fact that he’s a pastry). Hager showed off his vocal skill in “Freak Flag,” performing some nice riffs in his natural range and then suddenly jumping up the octave for effect. Hannah Buss had a strong sound as Young Fiona, while Chloe Guttormson brought a more aggressive attitude to Teen Fiona. The trio of Fionas sounded lovely in “I Know It’s Today,” especially in the overlapping vocals at the end of the song.

The ensemble brought in a lot of memorable moments throughout the show. The tapping rats and the dancing mice of “Make a Move” were energetic and entertaining. The dragon guards leaned into their role as backup singers in an intriguing way, and I found it very funny when one of the guards seemed to be attempting a barbershop quartet moment that no one else joined in on. I enjoyed the way Farquaad’s guards almost seemed to be prancing instead of running. The whole cast brought great energy to big group numbers like "Freak Flag," and their strong vocals and dancing made for a very satisfying performance throughout.

Musicals take a lot of work, and rehearsal schedules don’t always allow for a lot of time for performers to develop, explore, and take risks with their characters. I don’t know if CVFT had a longer rehearsal time than usual for Shrek (probably not), but this is a show that feels like the cast had two extra weeks just to play around and find new ideas. It’s so much fun to see a show you’ve seen a bunch of times before and still be surprised! This show was exuberant and playful and I had such a great time watching it.