Shrek The Musical

The musical adaptation of the hit movie Shrek tells the well-known story loved by many across the world.  It follows the story of an ogre, Shrek, who is sent to rescue a princess in return for the deeds to the swamp he has made his home.  Along the way, the audience is introduced to many famous fairytale characters.  Having never seen or heard the musical version before, I was excited to visit the Paget Rooms for the society’s latest production.

The set was well constructed and allowed the performers to use all the stage to maximise the playing area.  Freestanding flats were used to transport us between forest and castle scenes and this generally worked well but occasionally the scene changes were a little clunky. 

The production was well costumed, with each individual character instantly recognisable.  It was a very vibrant and colourful show!

It was wonderful to hear a live band playing the score and they were well led by musical director, Ben Davies.  In parts, there was a danger that they could have overpowered the on stage singing but this was well managed for the most part.

I really liked the direction and the overall production value from director, Fiona Porter-Smith.  I think with a show such as this, the audience knows what they want to see in terms of character and Fiona’s direction enabled this, along with allowing the cast to bring their own ideas to the production.  There were fabulous touches along the way, and the Dragon sequence was particularly impressive.  The team involved in creating this worked really well together.  You didn’t watch the people but believed the Dragon was actually in the room, flying along.  Well done Fiona and team!

Before I mention the principal characters I would really like to congratulate the extremely hard-working ensemble on their performances.  They were full of energy whenever they entered the stage.  Their harmonies in the musical numbers were superb and the delivered choreography from Ceri Wheatley well and with aplomb.  The ensemble really added something to this production.  Excellent work.

As the title character, David Millard was great.  The costume alone made him instantly recognisable to the audience but even more than that, in voice and in action he perfectly embodied Shrek.  He had good vocals in the musical numbers and worked well with his fellow cast members.

Abbie Prothero was Princess Fiona.  You would never have known that this was her first lead musical role.  She had a lovely character and absolutely excelled in the musical numbers. 

Chloe Welsh was full of energy as donkey.  She worked well with her cast mates and worked hard to deliver the comedy elements within the character.

As pint-sized Lord Farquad, Richard Thomas gave a great performance.  He did very well in what must have been a very physically demanding role and created an almost panto-like villain.  Very funny, well played.

Harriet Taylor was the voice of the Dragon and what a voice she has!  I really enjoyed her singing and it great to see her transformed on stage during the finale. 

PODS has recently embarked on a youth version of the society and my congratulations go to the young performers I saw during my visits to Shrek.  Ollie as Little Shrek and Grumpy Dwarf and Meryl, Lillie-Mai, Siri and Elinor as Young Fiona and Teen Fiona all gave fantastic performances.  The future is bright in Penarth!

Most societies struggle for men, however this isn’t the case with this society and the male ensemble were a real triumph in their scenes as soldiers.  Bob Tucker and Neil Clevett were clearly having the time of their lives on that stage and in turn, gave the audience many sources of amusement.  Well played gents!

It is impossible to mention everyone in this report but all named characters in the programme are to be congratulated on adding plenty of energy and strength into the production.

This was a great production, full of colour, humour and energy.  If I could ask for one thing in future it would be just to sometimes take a little more time over dialogue, especially those with difficult accents.  Occasionally dialogue was lost owing to it being just a little too fast.

I had two lovely evenings watching this production and I enjoyed catching up with everyone involved in the society, especially PODS Chair, Mary Gardner who was proudly displaying her 50 year NODA commemorative medal.  A fantastic achievement. Congratulations Fiona and the rest of the PODS team.  I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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