'Shrek' by Sabrina's Encore Productions - My Review

The Connecticut Broadway Stage Company in association with Sabrina's Encore Productions of Newtown is presenting Shrek The Musical at the Palace Theater in Waterbury this weekend. Since their opening night was on Friday, it earned the honor of being the first of the two Shreks that are playing in the area.  SEP gives all of its students unique opportunities and provides them with the ability to learn about musical theater in a hands-on, comprehensive way. Their fabulous production of the visually thrilling and very funny Shrek clearly was one such opportunity.

Most of the cast members on the Palace stage were teens or younger, while the ones in the production at the Warner opening on Saturday are predominately adults. Nevertheless, the young actors rose to the challenges inherent in this show; they sang the musical numbers beautifully, embodied the feisty characters in beautiful costumes and makeup, and mastered the excellent choreography. Because the cast was so large, the dance numbers were especially impressive as the talented dancers filled the huge Palace stage with the amazing Rat Tap Ensemble and especially when the Duloc Dancers backed up Lord Farquaad (played royally by Kyle Watkins on his knees.) Eight Dragon Dancers in red sequins backed up the Dragon, played to perfection by Kristen Scheuermann (the Witch in Chase's Into the Woods.) Kudos to Choreographer Lisa Mennilli, who is a staff member at Sabrina's Encore Productions.

Sabrina Post bravely directed this massive production and Musical Director Anna De Masi was in the pit directing the large group of musicians that sounded great. Every member of this huge cast did a wonderful job. They all seemed to be having fun under the lights and what a thrill it must have been to stand upon the beautiful Palace stage. Some stand outs among the fairy tale creatures were Quinn Fitzgerald as Pinocchio, Allison Kron as Elf and the very talented dancer Kyle Mangold as both Peter Pan and the Pied Piper.

Taylor Varga was just named Best Actor by the National High School Musical Theater Award (The Jimmy Awards) and played the fun role of Donkey, Shrek's noble steed. He was always in character and perfectly delivered the numerous funny lines that come with the role. He had great chemistry with both Fiona and Shrek and carried off the silly hoofed costume.

As Fiona, the lovely Sarah Hasselberger is the triple threat that the role requires. She sang beautifully with Talia Hankin and Victoria Madden as the younger versions of herself in "I Know It's Today." Josh Goldman took the lead role of Shrek and ran with it.

Most of the references to other Broadway shows were here, but not the Les Miz flag waving during "Freak Flag." For the most part, the costumes provided by Sabrina's and two other companies were wonderfully colorful and flattering. The fairy tale creatures were all very cute. The set designed by Andrew Knapp effectively filled the large space and worked well, especially the wooden horse for Lord Farquaad.

The front of the vast Palace Theater was filled with supportive parents and friends of the students. I had some difficulty understanding some of the lines and lyrics, but I think was a result of the placement of the speakers in relation to my seat on the side of the theater. Unfortunately I purchased a seat in a box with the only teen who felt it necessary to make loud noises and even shout out the name of friends as they entered the stage. As a fellow performer, she undoubtedly knew better and could easily have saved it for the curtain call.