This coming February, students can pay $10 to attend Shadow Ridge High School’s production of “Shrek the Musical” in the Mustang Mountain Theatre. “Shrek the Musical” is a fun musical rendition of the beloved original Shrek movie with the same basic plot with musical numbers where the characters express their emotions and move the story along.
“I like the message in Shrek: be yourself and love who you are. This show was also very popular amongst the students,” Mrs. Hartley, Shadow’s theater teacher, comments.
Hartley consulted with fellow performing arts teachers when deciding which musical would be the best fit for this year. One factor the teachers considered in their decision was what they felt would be within the range for students to successfully play and sing.
Senior Adam Conboy will be playing the lead role of Shrek himself. Conboy is an experienced theatrical actor and has been acting in shows since the fourth grade. He’s also played various roles in many of Shadow Ridge’s previous plays and musicals.
“I have also been working on speaking and singing with Shrek’s iconic Scottish accent because I believe it is a very important character choice to best represent the original character, while still making it my own version of him,” Conboy states.
In the original Shrek film, Mike Myers portrays Shrek with a unique Scottish accent which Conboy plans to replicate.
“To prepare for my role, I have been listening to the songs on repeat and figuring out either how I will be singing them to represent the mood of Shrek in that moment, or how I will react to the other characters singing,” Conboy states.
Accompanied by live music, the actors for the musical can feel and interpret the emotion of the songs to whatever mood they feel is best fit for that scene.
“Personally I hate recorded music for musicals. I believe there is a relationship with the musicians and the actors which brings a richness to the overall performance of the show. The musicians interpret the music and add their emotions to the pieces just as much as the actors performing lines or singing,” Hartley shares. “This is something you can’t get with recorded music; the music will always be the same every time you play it but with live musicians the emotions and interpretation will change every time they play it. There’s an interplay between the musicians and the actors.”
Just like onions, this musical has layers. Students with many different talents, such as those who participate in orchestra, band, choir, theater, and theater tech, work together to produce a spectacular show that incorporates and showcases the talent of Shadow Ridge. The musical is completely student-based as the performers, musicians, technicians, designers, and everyone building the set, costumes, and props are all students who attend the school.
“Shrek could be sitting next to you in math class, or the people building the set could be in the lunch line with you. So not only is it a great show, but you are also supporting people here at Shadow; their talents, efforts, and time put in to create entertainment for you,” Hartley remarks.
