What more could a story ask for than a hero, a princess, an animal sidekick and a daring rescue?
An unforeseen hero’s peaceful, if not slightly off-putting, life is intruded upon by a hoard of magical creatures. He sets out with a loud-mouthed donkey to find the vertically-challenged ruler of Duloc to ask him to evict the invaders.
Through an unlikely and humorous series of events, the hero is recruited to rescue a princess for the ruler to marry. However, he instead uncovers her most closely guarded secret in the process and discovers that she is his true love.
The quirky story of “Shrek the Musical” will be brought to life by Taylor’s Musical Theatre troupe Nov. 14-15 and 10-22 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a Sunday matinee performance Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online.
The main cast consists of Shrek, played by Mark Cosgrove, a sophomore vocal music performance major; Princess Fiona, played by Gabrielle Hamilton, a sophomore music education major; Donkey, played by Milo Guevra, a sophomore musical theatre major; and Lord Farquaad, played by Gavin Kastner, a senior musical theatre major.
While the story will be the same as the iconic film, “Shrek the Musical” makes adjustments so that the production fits the medium of musical theater. Eva Reitzig, senior theatre arts major and stage manager, said the musical does not try to be the movie, but it still tells the same story.
“We’re doing a lot of things, especially on the production side of things, to make it…have more texture, make it have more color,” Hamilton said. “It’s a Disney musical, but it’s a lot less glossy, a lot less plastic. It feels real and it feels lived in.”
A focal point of “Shrek the Musical” is its take on traditional fairy tales. Although it could perhaps be reduced to a classic fairy tale about a knight saving a princess, its characters instead have layers like an onion.
Hamilton said she thinks the playwright and the cast have done a good job of exploring what it means to flip traditional works on their heads.
“I think what’s really cool about it is that it is kinda this reversal of the classic fairy tale, right?” she said. “You’ve got the princess, the knight in shining armor who’s not so much of a knight, you have the animal sidekick [and] the big scary villain who’s not so big.”
Much work has already been put into preparing for this musical. Reitzig stressed the importance of staying organized and prepared for every rehearsal.
Her process includes cramming as much information and as many notes as is possible into a two-inch binder alongside her blocking script.
Amanda Browning, choreographer and adjunct professor of dance, has been diligently working with the cast to produce visually stunning dance performances.
She said she has focused on “creating choreography that showcases their experience well.”
The behind-the-scenes elements of preparing a theater production may go largely unnoticed by most audience members, but the absence of these elements that bring the story to life would be sorely missed.
Similar to the offstage elements of preparing for a musical, the actors are fundamental parts of any performance. They are the audience-facing front of theater and, consequently, must dedicate a great deal of time and effort to crafting their portrayals of their characters.
Hamilton, when speaking about her process of embodying Princess Fiona, said she has focused on recognizing the reality of Fiona’s situation and identifying how she and Fiona are already similar.
“I think she, like every little girl, has this big expectation of love, but it’s almost bolstered by the fact that her ‘salvation’ depends on it,” Hamilton said. “I think it’s a very personal story to me as a young woman to understand ‘what does it mean to accept the parts about me that other people say are not beautiful or not worthy of love?’”
The story of “Shrek the Musical” has much to offer, and Taylor’s Musical Theatre is sure to draw out meaning, emotion and depth of character.
“It’s ‘Shrek,’ but it’s in a new light,” Hamilton said. “It’s fun.”
