GREENFIELD — Director Angela Mickler corralled the herd of young actors through the lobby of the H. J. Ricks Centre for the Arts and into the auditorium for the group’s first rehearsal of “Shrek the Musical Jr.” While the 50 or so kids took their seats, a crew of able-bodied parents cleared the stage of boxes, set pieces and props. Rehearsal was about to get real.
Mickler — who hasn’t let being in a cast and on a knee scooter for the past nine months since an injury slow her down — propelled herself in front of the children for some last minute instructions before rehearsal began.
“Don’t fall off the stage,” Mickler tells them. “Project (your voices), stay in character and have a good time!”
“Shrek the Musical Jr.,” the abbreviated version of “Shrek the Musical,” traces the story of the ogre Shrek and his quest to rescue the princess Fiona so that all the fairy tale characters (Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs, the Gingerbread Man, etc.) can go back to their kingdom and stay out of his swamp.
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The cast and crew have been rehearsing at St. Michael’s School since right after Christmas break, but have now moved into the Ricks Centre for final rehearsals and performances on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 29 at 2 p.m.
Eighth grader Matthew Hentz plays the character of Lord Farquaad. The sight gag surrounding the extremely vertically-challenged Farquaad is that he is at least two feet shorter than anyone else in the kingdom — yet he is a feared bully. In the animated version, Farquaad wears leg extensions, but in the stage version of the show, Farquaad’s costume in designed to look as if an actor on his knees is actually standing on his own two feet.
Hentz, hobbling around in heavy duty kneepads will be wearing short pants — made by his father Joe — that end at the knee, but look like legs.
Although Matthew enjoys the arrogant blustering as Farquaad, he doesn’t think much of him personally.
“He’s a fartwad,” Matthew said, in a play on Farquaad’s name. “He’s really stuck up and full of himself. He wants to marry Fiona so he can be king, and everyone will respect him more. He thinks everyone who is a fairy tale creature is inferior to him.”
Fifth grader Josh Gordon, who played radio star Bert Healey in last year’s production of “Annie Jr.,” auditioned and earned the starring role as Shrek.
“He did such a good job,” Mickler said. “His audition went great. He was loud and funny, so I took a chance with him and he has ‘claimed’ the role of Shrek and done wonderfully.”
With cast members from kindergarten through 8th grade, kindergartner Zoey Kissel represents the younger end of the spectrum. As a citizen of Duloc and one of the Pied Piper’s rats, she has been at every rehearsal learning songs and choreography.
Although the sound track doesn’t feature the pop music hits of Dreamworks’ 2001 Academy-Award winning animated film, it does end with the Monkees’ hit “I’m a Believer” as its curtain call.
With help from a myriad of parent volunteers, the show’s set, costumes, sound and lights are all coming into focus. St. Michael’s building maintenance supervisor Gary Warner and volunteer Mike Hewitt have pitched in on the theater magic. Hewitt, as stage manager, has theater experience from years of working at Eastern Hancock High School, and bring his expertise in set building and making sure things run smoothly backstage.
Belinda Hobbs, stage parent, has lent her hand to the costumes, and Cheryl Hentz, has worked backstage since rehearsals at the Ricks began.
After last year’s successful “Annie Jr.,” Mickler and her parent crew hope to do all their shows at the Ricks.
“The school was all on board for the children to experience a real stage,” Mickler said.
“Shrek the Musical Jr.” shows Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 29 at 2 p.m. at the H. J. Ricks Centre for the Arts, 122 W. Main St. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children at the door.
