Last Friday, the Willis High School theater department opened up this year’s musical season with a big, green bang, full of crude humor and enough fourth-wall-breaks to rival The Office. Shrek The Musical Jr. is a project of passion, and is the most fun I’ve had in weeks.
Shrek The Musical Jr. follows the plot of its movie namesake, following Shrek (Jhun Abarquez), Donkey (Chege Wechege), and Fiona (Sophia Von Kuschembahr) as they travel across the land of Duloc, with a few entertaining musical numbers along the way. With the help of a fairytale cast of characters, they fight against the eccentric Lord Farquard (Austin Montalbano) for the freedom to be as weird as they please.
The skills of the actors and crew cannot be stated enough; this musical is good. The whole time I was watching, I was never bored and I never caught my attention drifting away. I stopped multiple times to tell the friend I was with how much I loved the costumes, especially Puss in Boots’ and the Three Blind Mice. The songs exceeded my expectations, and Von Kuschembahr’s incredible vocal performance in Morning Person had me humming along in my seat.
While both the vocals and costumes are of note, the acting was what really kept me hooked. Everyone on stage truly sells the fantasy of Shrek, with my personal favorite performance of the night being Wechege’s Donkey. He and the other actors have energy for days, which keeps the musical from falling into a slump or dragging on.
Finally, I have to give my praises to the practical effects. Pinocchio’s nose was a gag that never wore out, and the dragon puppet and its puppeteers (Haylee Johnson, Christina Jersey, Victoria Jersey, Annabella Gault) delivered a performance on par with our leads.
For all those who saw Shrek and want to further support our theater department, their one-act play These Shining Lives, made with the same passion and care. The cast is working on the play for a March performance.
