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Berkhamsted Group, Boys, Girls, Sixth Form | 23.03.2022

Happily Every After – Shrek The Musical Review

Happily Every After – Shrek The Musical Review

Berkhamsted Schools celebrated a return to whole school, large scale productions with the arrival of Shrek The Musical, 16th – 18th March 2022.

We were fortunate enough to attend the matinee of Shrek The Musical which was performed to 500 prep children invited from local schools, the day before on the 15th of March.

Shrek The Musical was a Broadway show and also performed a stint at the West End with Music by Jeanine Tesori and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire.

The principal cast list included William S as Shrek, Sasha H as Princess Fiona, Ellie T as Donkey, Lily P as Dragon and Louis C as Lord Farquaad.

The performance was packed full of movie references, classic lines, the famous ‘Duloc’ song upon Shrek and Donkey’s arrival, and many of the famous cast from the film. From blind mice to guards and fairies, the cast were all here. Even a talking gingerbread man on a baking tray.

The set, a fantastic example of construction and a truly imaginative take on the fantasy setting, was fitting and wonderful. We had swamp signs, castles, a horse, bridges – you name it and this production had it.

The fairytale cast plead their innocence to all that will hear them

For a whole school production it had everything you could hope to see, energy, commitment, star performances and a magical live band.

William and Sasha had clearly been working hard at on-stage chemistry to create believable romance between Shrek and Fiona in just over 2 hours. The musical falls on their broad shoulders and both delivered in buckets. The duo should be very proud of how they handled so many words, songs and key moments.

The cast get to grips with Dragon, literally

For a whole school production it had everything you could hope to see, energy, commitment, star performances and a magical live band.

William and Sasha had clearly been working hard at on-stage chemistry to create believable romance between Shrek and Fiona in just over 2 hours. The musical falls on their broad shoulders and both delivered in buckets. The duo should be very proud of how they handled so many words, songs and key moments.

Audiences witness the blossoming relationship between Shrek and Fiona

Ellie took Donkey to a level that optimised the movie, originally made famous by Eddie Murphy, and was able to deliver it with the same assurance and confidence.

The costume complemented Ellie perfectly (as did all of them, bravo to Lucia S!), allowing for significantly more movement, greater opportunity for emotion and pure theatre. Tick, tick, tick.

The energetic donkey, taking a moments pause

The audience definitely knew when Lily (Aka – Dragon) was in the house. Her wonderful performance of ‘Forever’ in the first Act was truly memorable and a stand-out song in the musical.

Dragon, although a key character in the movie, has a much larger presence here in the musical.

Lily hitting the high notes as Dragon

Louis put himself through it as Lord Farquaad, spending the whole performance on his knees to demonstrate Farquaad’s height…or distinct lack of it.

His quest for a queen fuels most of the plot and his bumbling guards work hard to help him achieve his dreams. The true villain all good fairy tales need.

Lord Farquaad, letting the world know of his queen troubles

As usual with productions like this, the bulk of the work is completed by a dedicated behind the scenes crew. Their workload and drive cannot be overlooked and there is a section in the programme specifically for ensemble, puppet team and stage crew. They deserve the standing ovation too.

Shrek The Musical was originally meant to be performed at the end of 2021 but due to COVID was pushed back to maximise the experience of both staff, cast and audiences. It was clear from the response of flying ticket sales that it was the right choice. The schools are tremendously proud of this achievement and relaunching live, whole school performances. We all look forward to many more.

This weeks episode of ‘In The Berkhamsted Spotlight’ features our principal cast list with Dawn, which you can listen to here.

Thank you to Dawn Wylie and the Centenary Theatre for allowing us to view the Matinee in advance of the evening performances.

Shrek, Happily Ever After.
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