True Love’s First Kiss

True+Loves+First+Kiss

After seeing last year’s musical Tarzan, which won seven Blue Star Awards, I had high expectations for Shrek the Musical. The fine arts department, as usual, did not disappoint.

So many pieces of the production were praiseworthy, from the set to the songs, and the costumes to the orchestra.

When I first laid eyes on the set of Shrek, I was blown away. There was so much detail. During the first song, “Big Bright Beautiful World,” I could only marvel at the time and effort that must have gone into creating Shrek’s home. As the production went on, I discovered the set, much like Shrek, resembled an onion. Layer after layer showed itself. Separate from the lush green swamp was Lord Farquaad’s castle, dreary torture chamber included, Fiona’s simple tower, the dragon’s dungeon, complete with slaves, a cave, and lots of green forests for Shrek and Donkey to travel through. I was amazed by how functional the set was. I even noticed that the cast and crew made good use of the spinning function of the stage used during Tarzan last year. This year the spinning floor piece was used to flip around walls for the set and to show the passage of time in Shrek and Donkey’s travels. It was a brilliant and clever idea that really added to the efficiency of the musical.

Another commendable aspect was the costumes. Much like the set, the costumes held great attention to detail. It’s hard enough to make costumes for a musical without all the mythical creatures, but the crew went above and beyond my expectations to create magical costumes. I still don’t know how it happened, but Pinocchio’s nose grew. Additionally, I witnessed a dragon singing, and a bird exploding, all because of clever costume designs. My two favorite costume designs had to be the costume for Donkey, with his sassy hips, and for Lord Farquaad, a costume that was nothing short of amazing. It consisted of kneepads and fake legs, making him appear only four feet tall. He also sported a shoulder length wig and the most perfect-penciled eyebrows. I was rolling with laughter at his waddling gait before he even spoke. It didn’t hurt that Shrek and Donkey were cracking short jokes throughout the show.

This year, the musical had a young cast. With junior Truman Butler as Shrek and, even more impressive, freshman Kinsey Collins as Fiona, I was enthralled. I was curious as to how a junior and a freshman managed to secure the two leading roles, but I was quickly given an answer.

One of the most impressive things to me was Collins’ beautiful voice. After hearing her first song, “I Know It’s Today,” I almost forgot to take my notes because I was so invested in the performance. Despite being young, she has a strong voice. I found myself especially enjoying the song, “Morning Person,” where she pranced around and messed with nature. Her chipper mood was not deterred by the fact that she ripped off a deer’s antlers, or that a bird exploded when she sang too high. Additionally, I loved the bipolar Fiona she portrayed, especially during her bitter or excited states. The longer the musical went on, the more I believed Collins was a perfect fit for the part of Fiona.

As for Shrek, Butler did a brilliant job portraying all of Shrek’s conflicting emotions, as well as keeping the production humorous and entertaining. One of his solos that stood out as amazing was, “Build A Wall.” Though I felt for a hurting Shrek, I also really enjoyed him because Butler was so convincing in his role. I also should mention, “I Think I Got You Beat,” a duet between the leads that started off sad but ended with the two engaging in a good-natured farting contest. One of the nights, during the contest, there was a small technical difficulty that led to a delayed fart noise in the middle of Butler’s next sentence. Like the great actor he is, he took it in stride and quickly claimed, “That one was a straggler,” before moving on like it was no problem.

As hard as I tried, I couldn’t ever decide which creepily flamboyant character I loved more, freshman Dylan Moran as Donkey or sophomore Trevor Harr as Lord Farquaad. The two characters were sassy, smart-alecy, and hilarious. I loved how Donkey pestered Shrek with questions and, of course, the endless one-liners. My favorite was probably Donkey’s fairytale replacement for a swear, “Mother Hubbard!” I also appreciated Lord Farquaad’s sidesplitting dramatics and his bathtub ballad, which were hysterical.

Farquaad’s knights proved to be as cowardly as their leader, but with a subtle nod to Monty Python via a terrific use of coconuts, I forgave them.

The Dragon, voiced by freshman Callie Broyles, was another extraordinary portion of the show. Manned by three crewmembers, the dragon was wheeled onto the stage and used like a giant puppet as Broyles’ captivating voice resounded through the theater to the song, “Forever.”

Another of my favorite songs in the production was the song, “Freak Flag,” with all of the fairytale creatures. The three little pigs, the wicked witch, the sugar plum fairy, the fairy godmothers, and all others joined together in a song about accepting the weird parts of you and being proud of those oddities. The upbeat nature of the song had me tapping my feet and wanting to confess my quirks, all at the same time.

It’s easy to overlook the work of someone you can’t see. The pit deserves a round of applause for the effort that they put into the musical. Much like cast and crewmembers, the pit members were required to meet almost every day for rehearsals and it showed. The music accompanying all the songs sounded magnificent.

Overall I enjoyed the show and wish the cast and crew luck with this year’s Blue Star awards. Donkey summed the production up nicely when he said, “Shrek, you’re alright.”