Shrek The Musical Jr

What a joyous first night by the talented young people from Whitby Area Musical Theatre Company with Shrek – The Musical Jr.  The opening of ‘Big, Bright, Beautiful World’ with Mama Ogre (Erin Cooper), Papa Ogre (Emily Dugdale), Baby Ogre (Lexie Davidson) and later Shrek (Joleigh Davidson) was a great introduction to the production and set the pace for the show.  We are then introduced to the fairy tale characters and Harry Maud was a confident and very strong Pinocchio who kept up his accent throughout the show.  The fairy tale characters were wonderfully enthusiastic and even little Baby Bear (Arianna Dolan) did her best to have her say with support of her lovely Mama Bear (Winnie Long) and Papa Bear (Leaonard Robinson).

All of the cast were strong in the delivery of their lines and of particular note were Isobel Anderson as Gingerbread Man /Sugar Plum Fairy, Jack Heap as Big Bad Wolf, Erin Cooper as Wicked Witch, Faith Akeroyd as Ugly Duckling and Valentine Long as Captain of the Guards.  There was some super activity from the Three Little Pigs (Amelia Thompson, Sophie Stringer and Olivia Broadley) whose prop cases had been cleverly made to match their ‘back stories’.

We are introduced to Young Fiona (Lexie Davidson) and Teen Fiona (Ebony Brown) in their tower and both made sure we were in no doubt of the energetic personality of the Princess – both were confident and engaging, with great voices.  The Princess’s prospective suitor, Lord Farquaad, is an unlikeable wannabe King and Lola Walley did an amazing job of demonstrating his small stature, big persona and all while on her knees – a super performance.  Ensemble numbers including ‘What’s Up, Duloc?’ and ‘Morning Person’ were well choreographed and showcased the abilities of the whole company.

There was excellent puppetry from the operators of the huge dragon puppet and Safi Swales had strong vocals as the Dragon.  Safi was also one of the Three Blind Mice who along with Isobel Anderson and Winnie Long who did some excellent moves as they kept the audience up to speed with what was happening at the swamp and in Duloc.

Princess Fiona was wonderfully portrayed by Charlotte Crossland, a confident actress who really brought this unorthodox princess to life.  Similarly, Lily Burton as Donkey wowed the audience with her moves and fast talking all whilst dressed as a mule.  She had super timing and worked well with Joleigh Davidson who took the title role of Shrek.  Joleigh gave a very empathetic performance and one of the strongest I have seen as Shrek – an excellent lead.

Costumes, set and props were colourful and perfect for the show.  Scene changes were swift and effective. while the young performers coped well with any challenges around timing.  Make-up and prosthetics were very well done.

Congratulations to Director Rosalie Abel and Musical Director Zena Bentley along with the performers who did an amazing job.    A really enjoyable production and credit should go to EVERYONE onstage, off stage, backstage and in the Production Team.

 

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