They’re gonna shake you! They’re gonna bake you! A donkey! Pot! Whoopsie. That’s the wrong iteration of that show…now let’s see here…I made the left onto Thomas Run Road…got turned around at Maleficent’s castle— oh! Oh there it is. Phoenix Festival Theatre! Hiding out at The Amoss Center with their production of Shrek the musical! (Which does not include “Donkey Pot Pie”, not even sure that song ever made it off Broadway!) Directed by Emily Jewett with Musical Direction by Mia Bray and Choreography by Samantha Jednorski, this fractured fairytale is all kinds of updated and a family classic that is perfect for the kiddos this windy March weekend.
A simple swamp, with some popping lights (by way of Set & Lighting Designer Sammy Jungwirth and Scenic Designer Malia Williamson) gets folks primed for the madcap movie-come-stage-show that they’re about to see. Of course it all starts off as a storybook, which Shrek and Fiona take turns opening as their attempt to spotlight-steal one another during the opening gambit. Jungwirth makes excellent use of the space, though the main structures are set pretty far upstage. With such a cavernous space to work with, and so many people in the cast, at times the play space just felt a little vacuous, which should be impossible considering the number of fairytale creatures and overall ensemble members that populate this production. Jungwirth uses a lot of lighting effects to shift the mood, like when they first enter the dragon’s keep you get a red bath or the mystical swirls whenever Fiona is chanting through her curse. There’s a lot of green-light as well, which at times really does help hone in on the makeup featured on Shrek (and others, but…spoilers!) though it’s somewhat inconsistent. It’s difficult to tell if this is the makeup just not standing up to treatment, not being the right shade to match the lighting, or some third mitigating factor because there are times when Shrek (and others) looked very, very green in certain lights, and there were times when the makeup looked somewhat less polished and more yellow-flesh-toned. But if you can suspend your disbelief for details like that, then you’re in for a pretty good show.
Praises are going out for miles to Joyce Williams and Brenda Kinzinger, who head up the production’s costume team. With dozens of fairytale characters populating the swamp, they’ve had to get creative in some of their sartorial selections for the show. David the Gnome, Tinkerbell, Maleficent, Tweedles Dum & Dee, you name it and Williams and Kinzinger have found a way to outfit the whole fairytale company in addition to providing the more iconic looks for the principal characters. As someone who has seen a lot of Shrek over the years, it was a refreshing surprise to see the three Fionas in slightly different dresses and crowns. One could argue that she was banished to the tower and has had no visitors in 8,423 days but one should argue that there’s no way seven-year-old Fiona is wearing the exact same dress and crown as 27-year-old Fiona. The devil is so often in the details and that’s one detail that Williams and Kinzinger do extremely well. (Also see if you can catch their cheeky burrito-wrap-blanket-shell featured on The Three Pigs during curtain call! It’s silly but it’s a little unique moment that will make you chuckle.) Kinzinger and Williams find glistening white bugle-bead dresses for the Three Blind Mice, with matching platinum ice-white bob wigs to give those dancing mice a Tina-Turner look. It’s quite the assortment and Kinzinger and Williams have little Easter eggs hidden all throughout the show’s costume work.
Properties Designer Victoria Devoe deserves two mega shout-outs. Balloon-bird and those Snuthers. Balloon bird— featured ever-so-briefly during “Morning Person” is hilarious and serves its purpose, while those Snuthers are just a marvel to look at. Despite what they’re supposedly made out of, they look like such an impressive prop, you almost want to snatch one up from Shrek or Fiona and try it yourself. There are a few props— predominately the pieces used during “Travel Song” that could have been bigger or at least brought forward on stage (or with more focal lighting?) so that they could be seen better, to help enhance the humor of that number.
The show has some shortcomings, perhaps things that can be tightened and polished over the course of their one-weekend run, but nothing that is so detrimental as to completely negate the good, upbeat experience of seeing Shrek the musical live on stage. It’s often little things— like suspension of disbelief when it comes to the trick-illusion for Farquaad (simply having a cape double its current length would more readily hide the actors legs to make that illusion really pop) or crowding at the ‘swamp back door’ to get all the fairytale creatures clear from the stage before the next scene; these are all just little tweaks that if adjusted take a good show and make it great. The same can be said for the Dragon Puppet. While the head is beautiful— a glimmering, shimmering fuchsia-pink glittery head with working mouth and eyes, the body and tail (and overall movement thereof) leave a little something to be desired. (This isn’t the fault of the puppeteers; this falls more on the way they’re presented and the overall movements they end up making; it serves the basic purpose for that number and most of the audience is going to be watching Donkey or listening to Dragon, who is offstage anyhow.)
Despite some of those hiccups, the show’s pacing is fairly tight. Making her directorial debut, director Emily Jewett does utilize (in conjunction with Set Designer Sammy Jungwirth) the drop curtain to ease scenic changes without delay and for the most part has scenes dovetailing in and out of one another without any pauses or delays. Jewett also runs the fairytale creatures and some of the principal players in and out of the house a fair bit; there are moments where this really works— particularly when they barnstorm the wedding near the end of the show— but there are other moments where it feels like because of the ensemble’s numerous fairytale folk that they were ‘spilling over’ out into the house and the aisles, even though the stage itself is vast enough to accommodate. Some of the finesse of blocking— like the slide-entrances of Young Fiona, Teen Fiona, and Fiona for “I Know It’s Today” also lack that enchanting illusion component that so often accompanies fairytale-style musical productions. The blocking and placement of the characters in the show is functional and with time and practice, Jewett will hopefully transform functional into fantastical.
Musical Director Mia Bray is really putting the emotions— particularly they hyped up and enthusiastic verve— into a lot of her musical work. You get hearty and robust sounds of jubilant celebration during “I’m A Believer” (Bray is tackling this number with “Go Big or Go Home” energy and it’s a perfect way to close the show.) Bray’s work with the trio-harmonies at the end of “Who’d I’d Be” are stellar. There are some moments where the sound balance (sound engineer Asher Weir) is a little muddled. This is particularly true for Gingy/Sugar Plum Fairy (Lanoree Blake) at the top of “Freak Flag” where whatever is happening with her vocal affectation imbued upon the character is not picking up clearly on the microphones and the annunciation and articulation of those lyrics is getting lost. This seems to be an inconsistency throughout as there are other characters, like The Three Little Pigs (Benjamin Marsh, Allison Strickler, Mo Tacka) who have thick vocal affectation-accents going on but their lyrics pick up just fine.
What’s really impressive is the consistency with Samantha Jednorski’s choreography. While there are a bunch of bodies to work with on the stage, particularly when it comes to numbers like “Story of My Life” and “Freak Flag”, Jednorski keeps the choreography simple and clean. There’s a lot of box-step-march-with-intent and jazz hands and that works really well for the large number of people included in these routines. With Dance Captains Lisa Geiger and Karlie Surgeon taking point for the very polished looking ‘rat-tap-routine’ during “Morning Person”, you get to see some of Jednorski’s more complex moves in play. Overall it’s a balancing act— finding what moves work well for the large number of performers she’s working with, and their varying dancer’s skill sets— and it’s one that Jednorski does extremely well, all while keeping the bouncy, joyful enthusiasm of the show in her choreographic routines. The single-blade marching pinwheel for the Silver-clad Duloc Guards is an impressive move. As is the rattle-around moves with the Knights of the Dragon Keep (Eric Bray Jr., Ethan Buttman, JJ DeVoe, Donnie Lewis) and the Skeletons featured in that same routine (Isabel Bray, Hannah Kries, Jess Simonson, Karlie Surgeon.)
You get an endless ensemble (featuring Hannah Abbe, Magnolia Berglowe-Lynch, Lanoree Blake, Eric Bray Jr., Isabel Bray, Ethan Buttman, JJ DeVoe, Victoria DeVoe, Zachary Dodson, Colleen Donahue, Lisa Rigsby Geiger, Ronald Gusso, Lexi Hauck, Kaitlyn Jones, Thomas Knox, Abby Koncurat, Kelly Koncurat, Megan Koncurat, Hannah Kries, Peter Lein, Donnie Lewis, Benjamin Marsh, Kayleigh McArthur, Finley Harper McCully, Brittany Scarborough, Michael Shipman, Jess Simonson, Lindsey Sowards, Greg Streett, Kim Streett, Landon Streett, Allison Strickler, Karlie Surgeon, Mo Tacka, Matt Wolffe, Declan Wood.) Many of these ensemble double and triple-up throughout the performance— like Lisa Rigsby Geiger (dance captain) who appears in the rat-tap number, Duloc, and as Tinkerbell— the fairytale creature who gets to kickstart the curtain call with a little bit of ‘magic.’ You get Isabel Bray, Kaitlyn Jones, and Karlie Surgeon (dance captain) who appear as the ‘three Blind Mice’ and do a Tina-Turner-shimmy roll at the end of “Make a Move” and it’s wild to watch! Other standouts among the ensemble include Abby Koncurat as Humpty Dumpty, who gets a glorious solo feature during “Freak Flag” and Matt Wolffe, who plays King Harold during ‘little Fiona’s banishment’ but ultimately wears that house dress of fabulousness as The Big Bad Wolf. Though this Wolffe only has a few fantastical lines as the Big Bad Wolf, he’s living it up and making himself heard! And of course you have Michael Shipman as Thelonious, who gets to do a lot of comedic floor-fall acting when he’s in the barbell scene with Farquaad.
Eric Bray Jr. is in a category all his own. As leader of the ‘fairytale freaks’, his Pinocchio is a riotous hoot that will have you rolling in stitches— or maybe in splinters? by the time he’s done with all of his antics. Bray Jr.’s limber movements, particularly when he does his leaping side-heel air-click-kicks are hilarious and the vocal affectation he imbues to the character is spot-on for Pinocchio without compromising articulation or his ability to be understood. And he wails into “Story of My Life” like there’s no tomorrow, following it up with a confident blast during “Freak Flag.”
Of course the show wouldn’t be complete without a company of ‘little-littles’ who when they’re not appearing as Young Shrek or Young Fiona or other fairytale creatures, they show up at the top of “Morning Person” as the rats that the Pied Piper (Zachary Dodson) just can’t get to follow him. Once Fiona takes over (and the tap corps appears and does their thing) these adorable cutie-patooties rally around Fiona— one of them even gives her a kiss and a bouquet of flowers; it’s too sweet! Landon Street, Kayleigh McArthur, Magnolia Berglowe-Lynch, and Ronald Gusso, are our four little-littles, who take turns sharing the roles of Young Fiona/Elf and Baby Bear/Young Shrek respectively. At this performance, Kayleigh McArthur took up the mantle as Young Fiona, singing alongside Teen Fiona (at this performance Mara Weeks, who alternates with Finley Harper McCully) and full-grown Fiona for “I Know It’s Today” and her storytelling vocal capabilities are precious and sweet. McArthur, Weeks, and Erin McArthur (as grown-up Fiona) really blend beautifully on their trio harmonies in that number.
While the puppet itself may be a beautiful head and lackluster body, the voice behind Dragon is a powerhouse knockout. Kalea Bray, who does eventually appear on stage during the curtain call wearing the snazziest, sharpest suit of matching fuchsia sparkle, really knows how to deliver “Forever” (the song that replaced “Donkey Pot Pie” once the show was licensed to go on tour and then licensed to community theatres.) Bray has emotional punch and a great sustaining capability and even though all the interactions are done with Donkey and a puppet, you can Bray connecting with the Donkey character in a truly intense fashion through this number.
Nefarious and humorous, Michael MacKay has the character work of Lord Farquaad down to refined tee. And his vocal work is quite impressive as well. He gets to belting out some of those moments during “The Ballad of Farquaad” and it’s a real treat for the audience. MacKay also has really animated facial features that keep the audience engaged with his character’s dirty deeds. His comic timing is on point and when he’s doing his bit during “What’s Up Duloc?” he’s very, very entertaining to watch, especially as he marvels at his ‘growing’ and his ‘leap’ abilities (all a part of the theatrical illusion.)
You’ve never heard a fairytale that ends up with an Ogre (Shrek—Ryan Geiger), his best friend, a talking Donkey (Ryan Holmes) and a princess, Fiona (Erin McArthur) together in a swamp, unless of course you’ve heard of Shrek and then you know that’s exactly how this trio goes. And while Princess Fiona comes late to the trio’s dynamic, this threesome has an indescribably camaraderie that just feels natural and authentic, even when they’re bristling with one another. While the corny-comic rewrite of Shrek features Fiona and Shrek attempting to one-up one another during the opening number, “Big Bright Beautiful World”, you know from jump-street that watching these two (and later, Donkey) is going to be a real treat.
Ryan Holmes, as the furry-fast-talking Donkey, is delivering textbook Daniel Breaker-style Donkey; it’s everything you expect, know, and love about Donkey. Holmes’ comic timing is impeccable, and his overall lack-of-awareness of reading Shrek’s moods is priceless. His funny, charmingly loveable in that obnoxious kind of way, and has excellent use of body language and physical expressions. When he recovers from the ‘punch-buggy’ incident, watching him play with his paw, even though it’s the littlest of gestures, is hysterical. The same can be said for when Fiona and Shrek are going for their fart-a-thon during “I Think I’ve Got You Beat” and he just watches on in abject horror before full-dropping in a faint and having to be dragged off the stage by one of his hooves! The slight vocal affectation that Holmes provides for Donkey is spot on with how audiences at large have come to expect Donkey to sound and when he starts singing— hold onto your hats because Holmes has a powerhouse voice that’s right on par with both Shrek and Fiona. You get a great sampling of his vocal prowess during “Don’t Let Me Go” and again when he’s really blasting out during “Make a Move” and Holmes isn’t afraid to get funky on his feet in that number either!
With a flawlessly consistent Scottish accent that is articulate, crisp, and clear, Ryan Geiger delivers a serviceable Shrek, that much like his character’s own descriptions— is like an onion. It’s stinky. Wait— no— it’s not stinky— it has layers! (Dagum donkey on the brain!) Geiger has layers that he layers into the layered portrayal of the titular character. And not in the parfait way either. There’s a layer of annoyed-apathy, which oozes a little like green snot, when he’s dealing with Donkey in the early phases of the production. There’s a layer of deep insecurity that gently peeks out during the intro to “Who I’d Be” and again during “When Words Fail.” There’s a layer of snarky sarcasm that pops up frequently throughout the performance. There’s a layer of vocal excellence that keeps all of these songs both on tempo, with gusto, and in perfect pitch— not to mention the clarity and consistency with which Geiger keeps his Scottish-Shrek accent whilst singing. Geiger’s got layers— and like an onion, especially when he hits the earnest truth of “Big Bright Beautiful World (Reprise)”, might make you tear-up just a bit.
It’s all about the princess, these fairytales always are, aren’t they? Rescue a hothouse flower from a dragon-guarded tower, else we wouldn’t have a show? Erin McArthur is showing the world that she’s no ordinary princess. Her layers are more dainty— parfait like— but you get an equally nuanced performance out of her Fiona as you do with Geiger’s Shrek. The whole of Harford County can hear her belt and blast out at the end of “I Know It’s Today” and again during “Who I’d Be.” McArthur is fierce and charming but equally uncertain in her own moments of character-based self-doubt and it’s a truly beautiful thing to watch. Plus she takes charge of the ‘dance break’ (with her dance captains Surgeon & Rigsby-Geiger tucked delicately into the rat-tap ensemble) during “Morning Person” after belting her face off in that song as well. And the interactions between McArthur and Geiger are heartfelt and believable, even at first when they’re bristly and intentionally disjointed. Watching them pluck at one another during “I Think I Got You Beat” is the catalyst for their meet-cute-saccharine-setup as they share Snuthers around the campfire while Donkey takes a trip to DeLulu with “Make a Move.” All three of that leading-character trio— Geiger as the titular character, Holmes as the trusty sidekick, and McArthur as the princess— have extraordinary vocals that really pack a punch in the act one finale, “Who I’d Be.” And you get emotional expressionism from all three of them as well— the vulnerable terror from Holmes during the back end of “Travel Song” where he’s pleading to get across the bridge, the questionable hope from McArthur during “Morning Person (Reprise)”, and the unmitigated heartbreak from Geiger during “Build A Wall.” This is the trio of powerhouse vocals, exceptional stage presence, and all-around quality performance.
So let your freak flag wave with all these fairytale creatures over in the swamps of Harford County— it’s one weekend only— through March 16th, this Shrek and you’ll want to get out and support them before its too late!
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Shrek plays through March 16th 2025 with Phoenix Festival Theater, a part of LIVE! At Harford Community College— currently at Amoss Center— 200 Thomas Run Road in Bel Air, MD. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 443-412-2211 or purchasing them in advance online.
