Shrek JR

I have seen Shrek the musical performed a few times by a few societies, but this is the first time I have seen Shrek The Musical JR performed by a youth organisation, and I was really looking to how it would translate from adult to junior.

The beauty of Shrek the musical JR is that it can cater for a larger chorus, and it gives those members of the chorus a chance to play different characters and feel a real part of the show, and I felt that the production team made sure that everyone had an opportunity to shine, I also felt the director Nicole Georges kept the production well-paced.  I am a big fan of simple choreography done well and rehearsed well, and the two choreographers Charlotte and Francesca Platten did a good job of this, I particularly enjoyed Freak Flag, which is a great number and different characters can be highlighted and this was done well.

It is very difficult to mention everyone in the ensemble as there were several children, but I felt Lyra Brett as Pinocchio and Helena Wilson as Gingy stood out, they had two iconic scenes where Pinocchio’s nose first extends, which I felt Lyra tried hard to conceal and then Helena had Gingy’s ‘muffin man’ scene with Lord Farquadd, which she kept at the right pace to get the laughs.

Zac Daly had the daunting task of the lead role as Shrek, he did a good job, lovely vocals and he had really worked hard on understanding how to get the sarcasm across especially when rescuing Fiona, and the change in Shrek at the end when he realises, he loves Fiona.  For someone young to take on this role and have the stage presence he did, I must commend him.

The harmonies in “I know it’s today” from Lily Plowman-Cobb (Young Fiona), Abilgail Hughes (Teen Fiona) and Alissa Kucukkinaci (Princess Fiona) were great, well done.  Alissa as Princess Fiona had a lovely, powerful voice and I felt she gave Fiona a lovely sassy edge.

Donkey played by Noah Ruby was very funny and I could see and hear the Eddie Murphy influence in his voice, his comic timing was very good, but at times he needed to slow down a little when speaking so that his dialogue could be completely understood, but great characterisation.

Lord Farquaad is a fun part played by Joshua Raine.  He again had good comic timing, and tried hard to stay in character, however at times he found this challenging.

The dragon was very clever, using two young ladies Ela Gozen and Rita Witham-Holroyd one as the head and one as the tail and was a great idea, it gave what is one of the more difficult songs a lovely harmonised vocal, both young ladies have super voices, and this showed.

It was lovely to see Young Thespians giving youngsters an opportunity to be on the technical team and work the show with guidance from more experienced people, this is a great idea.  The technical side was good, and something so simple as a green light was so effective.  I did wonder how Fiona’s transformation into an ogre would be done and, to simply put a green light on her face worked well, again simplicity done well works.

Thank you to Ian for his lovely hospitality and congratulations on a good show.

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