SHREK THE MUSICAL

Always a warm Cornish welcome in St Austell so thank you to the society.

Shrek the Musical is a great show to put on, it has so much going for it, music, comedy and great visual effects, real family entertainment. And that is precisely what took place at St Austell AOS

The opening scene was a wonderful set with foliage of various colours giving a great promise of what was to come 

Shrek looked good, tall, and imposing with clear dialogue and a rich singing voice, his performance was sincere, funny and moving with just the right balance.

 At first, it seemed unusual to see a woman taking the role of   Donkey (shades of the film, always a bit of a problem when the film portrayals are so well known and so current) but what a woman!  Her performance was superb, the voice, the actions, the expressions, and her overall persona. A perfect foil for Shrek

Princess Fiona had a great singing voice and stage presence. Her changes of mood and the occasional hints of her internal ogre were very well done with plenty of light and shade  

The song “I Know It’s Today” with the three Fiona’s was excellent

Lord Farquaard came over exceptionally well, but his first entrance could have been made a lot more of with not only the guards but also the chorus. Maybe more co-ordinated costumes?

He must have had very sore knees by the end of the show its fortunate he didn’t suffer from cramp having his legs tucked under him for so long. In the first act his own legs were often visible due to his cloak not covering them. This didn’t help the illusion, but it was rectified in the second act. His solos were superb. This is a challenging role to play physically and was done with flair and skill

The Fairy Creatures were exceptional, in both their costumes and acting; Pinocchio had a great voice trying to convince everyone (and himself) he was a real boy! Gingy gave a splendid interpretation along with the Three Pigs, the Wicked Witch and all the others, not one came out of character for a moment and were all simply great!  All worked well as a team and were obviously well-rehearsed.

The set was really outstanding with the castle, the forest etc. The Dragon (very clever) was a great spectacle and oohs and ahs from the audience showed their appreciation. 

The Dragons mouth opening and shutting in time with the song was skilfully done!

It all climaxed with a happy outcome, Shrek got his princess and Donkey found a home. A joyful and exuberant finale sent everyone home happy and smiling.

I can see Shrek, possibly becoming a standard Christmas show in future years, it has all the ingredients, goodies and baddies, dragon, princess, and fairy folk

I was very glad to see the article “Behind the scenes” in the programme, so that the audience can understand the amount of work that goes into such a production by a whole team of invisible people   

The Band made a great sound without drowning people out as happens on occasions, every word could be heard, and the band played with skill and sensitivity.

The Director Kathy West, with Vicky Pascoe the Musical Director and Choreographer Jess Madeley are to be congratulated on bringing this excellent show to fruition.

Thank you for a wonderful night of great entertainment performed and staged by so many talented people  

Graham Liverton

Regional Councillor NODA Southwest 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.