Shrek: Not for the faint of heart
Only a seasoned cast and company, such as K-W Musical could pull it off
Like most large scale musical theatre rehearsals, there seemed to be chaos at K-W Musical Production’s hall in Kitchener.
But it was organized chaos, creative chaos, everyone knowing exactly what to do and with the exception of a few dreamers whose minds drifted to the music in their heads, all 40 cast members were ready to work, to perfect the upcoming performance of “Shrek, The Musical” running Feb. 8 to 17 at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse.
“Casting this show, we got so lucky,” said director David Atkins. “Across North America, you typically get Joe Schmos who want to get up on stage, but our ensemble could all take centre stage.”
The problem of having too much talent is a good one for a director and Atkins didn’t want to waste any it so he came up with an idea: When the ensemble is offstage, they will be singing the chorus. They won’t be seen, but they will be heard.
“Shrek the Musical” based on the 2001 animated movie “Shrek,” first appeared on Broadway in 2008. K-W Musical Productions spent a lot of time planning and wondering if they could pull off such a big show, but given it’s the organization’s 70th anniversary, they decided to launch the three-show season with something splashy.
“Shrek” is a big show, one that less experienced or creative theatrical organizations would find difficult to produce.
Pinocchio, for example, required trying to figure out how to make his nose grow without the poor actor having to wear a battery operated prosthetic device.
Tristan Pilcher plays the puppet who wants to be a real boy and as for the nose, well he just has to fake it by covering his face when he tells a lie pretending that schnoz is lengthening. And then there’s Pinocchio’s high pitched voice. That is real.
“I can do that really high falsetto,” said Pilcher who is actually a 29-year-old manager of a softwear company as well as vocal assistant with K-W Glee.
Atkins was thrilled with the costumes for this production, a story that brings everyone’s favourite ogre and fairy tale misfits into the festering green swamp on stage.
The leads include Max DeNardis as Shrek, Jill Prince as Prin- cessFiona, Mi- chael Klein as Donkey and Rob Bridel as the vertically challenged Lord Farquaad. Bridel plays the role on padded knees, his legs hidden by a cloak.
All those costumes were a huge challenge.
“There are 70 costumes, including White Rabbit, Wicked Witch, Sugar Plum Fairy,” said Atkins. “It’s hard to find people who are sewers and have the time.”
Luckily, they have artist Ann MacKenzie, an imaginative wiz with a sewing machine who learned skills on her grandmother’s pedal machine.
As Atkins points out, the issue with all the costumes was trying to keep it simple and within a budget. Shrek had to be green but an ex- pensive rubber face mask would be out of the question, not to mention difficult for DeNardis to sing. Donkey could also be taken too far, trying to make him actually look like a donkey. MacKenzie opted for the gentleman look, with a nice jacket and tie and just a hint of donkey in the costume.
She said they were not going to go for the “fur onesie” look.
MacKenzie, a retired teacher, said that as a long time volunteer with the organization “Shrek” took her work to another level despite having a smattering of helpers. She still ended up making 56 of the 70 costumes, all designed and sewn by her. In addition, she had to find the right fabric or a base piece of clothing that could then be transformed into a costume. For this she relied on seniors day at Value Village and pool noodles.
“I would see something at Value Village on seniors day, Tuesday,” she said. “Some other places are Lens Mills, where I’d look for fabric.”
And what about those pool noodles?
“You’d be surprised what’s under those costumes,” she said. “It has to be light and easy for the actors to move.”
As for the Donkey’s love interest, the dragon, MacKenzie was happy they were able to borrow one from a local high school following that school’s own production of the musical a couple of years ago. MacKenzie, who is always looking for experienced sewers and donations of garments particularly vintage styles, said that though making so many costumes was a lot of work, she is pleased with the results.
“It was a challenge,” she said. “I take pride in my work and it will be very gratifying to see it on stage.”