Shrek The Musical

Author: Mark Donalds

Information

Date
24th October 2024
Society
Fareham Musical Society
Venue
Fareham Live, Fareham
Type of Production
Musical
Director
Sam Sampson
Musical Director
Louise Helyer
Choreographer
Alessandra Bushnell

The much-loved Ferneham Hall closed in early 2020 for major renovations; the project was then hit by the global pandemic, and its re-opening was a long time coming but it was certainly worth the wait. Fareham Live is a thoroughly up to date and splendid multi-space venue – something Fareham residents can be proud of and enjoy for many decades to come.

Director Sam Sampson must have had a remarkable vision of what this show could be from the outset and, with his production team and talented cast, he has gone all out to produce an amazing show that delighted all the senses. From the colourful, three-dimensional panto-style sets (from UK Productions) – making full use of the venue’s new flying facilities - to the costumes that were a riot of glitz and colour (Utopia Costumes), to the amazing makeup and prosthetics (Bec Does Shrek and company team) and the sumptuous lighting (Ian Pratt) – everything was top-quality and guaranteed to set the audience’s expectations high.

This was something the cast really had to live up to – could they do it? This is FMS, of course they could, and they did so with panache. MD Louise Helyer had obviously worked her magic – choral and solo singing (sadly only to soundtracks) was top quality from everyone on stage, no easy task with such a large cast. Equally, movement and choreography were spot on, interpreting Alessandra Bushnell’s ideas with precision and style, making some great images at the end of numbers.

Despite having a cast of thousands (or so it seemed) the heavy lifting was mainly down to just five characters: Shrek himself of course – the inimitable Stuart Frank did an amazing job of portraying the kindly ogre, and despite the hindrance of a bulky costume and facial prosthetics, he maintained a great Scottish accent and sang with soaring style. He looked and moved exactly right and quickly got the audience on his side. Donkey was played to perfection by Luke Davis – a new face to the local amateur stage. He has great stage presence and was instantly endearing and lovable, really bringing out the comedy in the role. Clare Plumridge made Princess Fiona delightfully sparky, selfish and bossy, carefully guarding her secret – another great singer too. Praise must also go to her two younger selves – well able to hold their own on a mainly adult stage. Of course it makes sense to cast the second tallest member of the company as the shortest character, but Steve Reading really seemed to relish the role of Lord Farquaad – a real baddie, strutting around the stage constantly preening. Lastly, I must mention Hannah Edwins as the Dragon, resplendent in her scarlet costume and with a magnificent singing voice to match. She was followed around by a splendid dragon puppet, skilfully operated and performing the most sinuous movements. Its arrival on stage caused great excitement amongst the children all around me, especially when the green eyes appeared through the gauze!

Fareham Musical Society has marked its return to this its spiritual home in spectacular style with this thrilling production of Shrek the Musical. From the set to the costumes and makeup, to the lighting and the five fantastic leads, it was an amazing show with top quality performances all round. An absolute triumph that you can all be proud of.  Anyone, young or old, who loves Shrek, will adore this production – the audience last night certainly did, they were whooping and cheering and didn’t want it to end.

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