Every July in Bigfork it is time
for an annual visit from our friends at the Stages Theatre Company from Hopkins . Each year they bring a whole cast and stage
set for one of their special productions. This year it is “Shrek The Musical,” a
fairy tale about an unlikely hero in the form of a Ogre who solves the problems
in his world with an adventure that will give you a very enjoyable experience
no matter what your age. The play is on the Edge Center
It includes a wise-cracking donkey, a fairy
princess, a mean villain, a cookie with an attitude and a bunch more fairy-tale
misfits that somehow save the day with mayhem, great music and lots of fun. The
play is for the whole family and will leave you happy and in a good mood.
This is 32 seasons for the Stages
company doing young peoples productions. It has grown “to become the third
largest nonprofit threatre in Minnesota
and one of the largest professional threatres for young audiences and those
young at heart in the country.
From their website, “ when you see
Shrek the green ogre find out that his “Swamp” is “…swamped with all sort
of fairy-tale creatures by the screaming
Lord Farquaad, Shrek sets out with a very loud Donkey by his side to ‘persuade’
Farquaad to give Shrek back his swamp.” That is not too big of a job for an Ogre
and Donkey, but something always gets in the way called “love” but all ends as it should…
come and see for yourself.
Sandy Boren-Barrett (below) is the Artistic
Director of Stages and the Director of this play. She says, “this spring I was
in Bigfork School doing a musical threatre residency with the students in grades
3-6 and the all student finale number for the residency was ‘This is our Story’
the finale number from Shrek, the musical. To have the voices of 75 Bigfork
students singing a song that they will later hear the actors in Stages Theatre
Company summer production touring of
Shrek singing, was so inspiring. I told
the students that when they come to see the show in July, I hope to hear them
singing along with the cast!”
This “Shrek The Musical” is one of
the adaptations evolved from the 2008 Tony Award Winning Broadway musical. It is
the young people’s version of the production.
It is based on the same story and features many of the same songs. It is
all based on a Tony Award-winning musical that is, in turn, based on the
Oscar-winning Dreamworks Animation film. Shrek
book and lyrics by David Lidsay-Abaire. Music by Jeanie Tesori. Originally
produced on Broadway by DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions. Presented
through special arrangement with Music Theatre Internationl (MTI). All
authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI Shows. And, all
photos shown here are by Steve Fischer for Stages Theatre Company
