Shrek the Musical

This being my first visit to the society, my husband and I were very much looking forward to seeing a new group and their array of talent, Shrek the Musical being such an iconic replica of the film has always been one of my favourites and this performance certainly did not disappoint us in any way.

By way of a change in this review I would firstly like to talk a little about the wonderful costumes as they were absolutely fabulous in every way. On reading through the very interesting information about all of the production assistants I noted that Sandy Weaver had taken the time and expertise  to make and dye matching footwear, as a detail person and wardrobe mistress myself I noticed this immediately. Sue Kent must also be congratulated on the immense task of creating the makeup and prosthetics for the show, one thing I often notice is with Shrek himself, as sometimes things can start to move affecting not only the actors performance when singing but also their confidence in retaining the characterisation and this was not the case. This was a BIG production with no less than 9 production assistants, that said, ultimately it was the cast members performances enhanced by costumes and specialist makeup that bought the whole production to life for the audience, each of the many different characters replicated from the film to amateur stage very well on this occasion, this might have proved challenging without such a talented cast and production team.

There were so many memorable characters and each one obviously had their part to play. Matt Everitt was the grumpy, forlorn Ogre Shrek playing opposite Libby Lowe as Princess Fiona, I thought the pairing worked very well throughout, especially in their musical numbers, although sadly at times the orchestra were overpowering. Connor Clemons was great as the comical Donkey in yet another memorable costume his characterisation and movement were super.  Keiran Corrigan played a comical Lord Farquaad. The audience really laughed out loud at his little legs every time he made an appearance, goodness only knows how he was able to negotiate all those moves on his knees never mind about rehearsals. The impressive dragon was played by Amanda Thornton.

There were another 33 adult and 4 children cast members to numerous to mention individually by name plus some of these were playing up to four different roles from Knights and Guards, Wicked Witch, young and teen Fiona’s, Little pigs ,Fairy Godmother, Alice in Wonderland, Young and teen Shrek, Bears and the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dum and Dee to be honest the list in the comprehensive programme is endless, however each and everyone  of these cameo roles really added to the colourful spectacle. I don’t dare guess how many costume changes were done as I counted four changes for quite a few people. Primarily everyone on the stage looked amazing and acted their individual parts without exception really well.

Congratulations to the production team, cast and crew, you embraced the challenge, and should be very proud. You certainly looked like you enjoyed every minute of being a part of this one-of-a-kind  show.I am certain the audience will be coming back for more, well done.

Many thanks for the invitation, looking after both of us and making us feel so welcome.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.