Shrek the Musical Jr

Shrek the Musical Jr performed and stage by Adlington Music & Arts Youth Society at Adlington Community Centre, Railway Road, Adlington on Friday, 27th June, 2025.

Based on the Dream Works Animated Motion Picture - ‘Shrek the Musical Jr’ is a ‘one of kind’, hilariously funny fairy tale in which curses are reversed, monsters get the girls, donkeys and dragons find love and princesses are beautiful in all shapes and sizes. In this “big bright beautiful world” everyone’s favourite ogre, Shrek, leads a cast of fairytale misfits on an adventure to rescue a princess and find true acceptance.  Part romance and part twisted fairy tale, Shrek the Musical JR. is an irreverently fun show with a powerful message for the whole family. Having been thrown out of his swamp, which he wants back, Shrek accepts a challenge... along the way he meets all manner of weird and wonderful people and creatures, he ends up falling in love and marrying the beautiful Princess Fiona.

Production Team... guiding us through the swamp was Ryan Stanton (Director), Heather Hodgson (Choreographer) and Paul Stanley (Musical Director) and what a great job they did!  A well-chosen cast who, as soon as those lights came up, looked like they were having the best time ever!  Ryan did a great job with the direction, with so many on stage, direction, blocking and the use of space was vital and Ryan used every available inch. What’s always evident here, is the way the choreography is always ‘pitched’ at the right level for the ability of those involved and that was again evident! LOVED the ‘tap dancing’ routine and the costumes for that routine ... wow! The music was provided by tape... which the cast dealt with well, under the guidance of Paul. Shrek is a one-of-a-kind hilariously funny fairytale... a great one for any Youth Group to tackle, not only because of its narrative, but because it offers so many differing roles of varying sizes, from its leads, Shrek, Donkey, Princess Fiona, to smaller roles like Dragon, Lord Farquaad and a plethora of well-known fairytale characters like Peter Pan and Pinocchio, providing opportunities for many to develop skills whilst allowing them to put their own stamp on a character and AMAS did just that and more!  This is not just a ‘funny fairytale’ ... there’s an underlying messages to be learned... like the power of friendship, self-acceptance, inner beauty, not judging a book by its cover and accepting someone for who they are ... ‘flaws and all’ .... this was a great production, enjoyed by all present, be proud you three great job!

The Cast... despite the heat and humidity, the cast worked their socks off and when that happens, it’s very difficult to start saying that someone was better than someone else ... without perhaps doing an injustice, but, I will ‘stick the old neck out’ later and select a MY Showstealer and few of MY favourite characters, you’ll have your own ideas, but these will be mine! Before that... let’s look at the cast....  Lilah Philpott played ‘Shrek’;  Fern Corry played ‘Princess Fiona’ (Princess Fiona was a shared role - Violet Hodge played ‘Young Fiona’; Ava Taylor played ‘Teen Fiona’); Izaac Latham - ‘Donkey’; Noah Smart- Stanton - ‘Lord Farquaad’; Penelope Upton - ‘Dragon’; Charlie McNamee, Coco Culshaw and Ashley McClean - ‘Storytellers’; Emily Hobb - ‘Captain of the Guards’; Elijah Latham, Ethan Towner, Peter Brownhill - ‘Guards’; Fairy Tale Creatures – Edie Philpott, Bella Doherty and Evie Spencer - ‘Pig 1,2,3’ respectively; Faye Loftus - ‘Fairy’; Tilly McKnight - ‘Mama Ogre’; Declan Hodge - ‘Pinocchio’; Hanan Arnold - ‘Big Bad Wolf’;
Will Butler - ‘Peter Pan’; Phoebe Dunning - ‘Ugly Duckling’; Toby Barton ‘Gingy’; Matha Coleman - ‘Deer’; Amelia Antas - ‘Papa Bear’, Evie Carney - ‘Mama Bear’ ; Olivia Jones - ‘Baby Bear’; Phoebe Doherty - ‘Pied Piper’.  The difficult part ... ‘Showstealer / favourites’ ... BUT, I really don’t need to look much further than ‘Shrek’ for MY ’showstealer’...  Lilah Philpott just made this role her own!  In recent years, I’ve seen Lilah play ‘Captain Hook’ in Peter Pan in 2023, ‘Bruce’ in Finding Nemo in 2024... all great performances, but this was another level!  Versatile, energy driven, loved the accent, mannerisms, her vocals and her natural movement... she just made this role look far easier than it was ... be very proud Lilah!  Two more great characters created in the form of ‘Lord Farquaad’ and ‘Donkey’ played by Noah Smart-Stanton and Izaac Latham respectively. Without doubt, these two definitely played these roles for laughs, as they should be and it worked a treat. Both have great stage presence, loved their interpretations and they worked ever so well with all the cast. Our ‘trio’ of Princess Fiona’s, Violet Hodge, Ava Taylor and Fern Corry (Young/Teen and Elder respectively) did a really good job ... I enjoyed their rendition of ‘I know it’s Today’. Although we had three, it’s Fern that takes on the majority of the role! Fern is another that I’ve seen before and she made a great job of the feisty, slightly goofy Fiona in a natural way!  Be proud Fern, good job! Honestly, I could go on... all the ‘ensemble roles’ were played with enthusiasm, energy and effort ... be very proud.... all of you!  

Staging/Tech/Set... when you have ‘wizards’ in charge, it’s magic you get and that’s always the case here at Adlington. Simple yet great sets, fabulous projection, unbelievable staging that moved seamlessly on ‘not the biggest stage’ ... impressive guys.  Stephen Pilkington (Stage Manager) should be congratulated on just getting that ‘tower’ on and off as smoothly as he did... scene changes were quiet and smooth.  Tech Team... more wizards involved ... Joanne & Natalie Sweet, Richard Cornes and Stuart Naylor ... did great jobs with the lighting and the sound... be very proud each and all... always a pleasure!

Costumes... I’ve said this before and I’m not ashamed of saying it again... fabulous and enhanced the show every so much... congrats to Ruth Crookson

Constructive Advice...  if I may offer a ‘wee bit’ of constructive advice - or things to work on!
‘Spoken Word’ - never forget that your audience needs to hear and understand everything you say! If you speak and the audience doesn’t hear or understand what you’ve said, then the storyline can get lost. ‘Diction’ for the most part was good...but there were occasions when the volume dropped or the accent/change in voice... made what was being said incomprehensible
‘Accents’ - the use of 'accents' or a ‘slightly different voice to your norm, is and can be vital when creating a character. If you use them, you really do need to ensure that your audience can still understand all you say, even if you’re taking the smallest of cameo roles!  Also, ensure that they are used throughout your performance and if you sing... try and put the accent into the lyrics...not easy I know – but if you can achieve it - it really can and does enhance your performance!
Hope I haven’t offended, just things for us all to note and work on in the future! 

Chaperones...  whenever I attend a Youth Production or an adult production with Youth Members involved, I always make mention of these ‘unsung heroes’ (unfortunately not named) ... but without who, Youth Productions and Adult Production with Youth involvement could not take place...  be proud folks, you know who you are... YOU’RE doing a fabulous job!

Another great night of theatre, provided by an enthusiastic cast of young people hear at Adlington Music and Arts.  That enthusiasm overflowed into the audience with the finale song
‘I’m a Believer’ which I think was sung by everyone in the building ... thanks for the invite... my
wife and I were thoroughly entertained and are already looking forward to your next production.

Stay safe, Keep well ...
Stronger Together
Jim Briscoe ...
NODA NW District 6 Rep

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