Musical Review

KHS’s drama department performed Shrek the Musical November 18-21. The musical told the story of an ogre and his quest to rescue a princess to reclaim his swamp which was taken by the massively selfish Lord Farquaad.

Along the way Shrek meets a talking donkey who adds a positive attitude to Shrek's dreary outlook on his quest. In the end, it is revealed that Fiona, the princess, was cursed to be an ogre at night until a true love's kiss sets her free.

The pair falls in love with each other and gets married in the end, living happily ever after as an ogre couple. The musical was full of laughs and jokes but sent a message that it is ok to be different and not to be ashamed of who you are.

Chance Mckim was born for the role of Donkey. Every scene he brought sass and humor which perfectly counteracted Shrek’s more grumpy demeanor. Mckim’s voice was strong and confident in every song which left smiles on the audience's faces.

Fiona, played by Laura Hudson, was a strong character who performed noteworthy numbers. Hudson’s voice was beautiful and embodied the essence of Fiona wonderfully.

Turner Petersen, who played Shrek, put on quite the performance each night. His role contained difficult songs and many lines, but he brought his best each night. He had great chemistry with all his co actors and actresses, especially Donkey.

Juni Alberts, Julia Chapman and Alexia Leasure brought the 3 little pigs, 3 dragonettes, and 3 blind mice to life. They executed each role wonderfully even though the mic had issues. The girls brought humor and pizazz to each character and left me laughing after their scenes.

Lord Farquaad, played by Cole Findling, was executed to perfection. Each little movement and line was full of humor and his character quickly became a favorite of mine. Findling did a very impressive job considering he acted out the whole musical on his knees.

Overall the musical was very enjoyable despite some complications. There were strong performers in the chorus including, but not limited to, Thelonius (Eli Flaim), Pinocchio (Elizabeth Moots), Gingy (Logan Davis), and Papa Ogre (Minu Alberts). You could tell the directors and crew put a lot of time and effort into this musical.

Shrek the Musical throughout the different performances had issues with the microphones, which are old and have seen better days. The crackling and bursts of static distracted from important lines and some microphones stopped all together to where you couldn’t hear the performers. Although these issues were quite noticeable, this did not stop the cast from performing their hearts out.

Kaitlyn Kelly