Shrek: The Musical Review
Somebody once told me!… that the spring musical has come by! You should’ve had a ticket for Shrek! That’s right, Rams! The LHS Drama Club’s spring musical has passed and it was a blast. Based on the movie Shrek, this musical hit the LHS auditorium stage during the weekends of March 10 and 17. After seven months of time and energy the of the drama club, Mr. Bernice, and his team of talented students brought the play to life! It was an absolute spectacle filled with joy and excitement!
Shrek the Musical starred Manny Angomas in the role of Shrek, Perla Villacampa as Princess Fiona, Oscar Lopez in the role of Donkey, and Michael Schirrmacher as Lord Farquaad. The musical opened with Shrek’s life story as an abandoned child who grows bitter toward the world that hates him. The story progresses to Princess Fiona’s origin of behind her castle tower prison and a lifetime curse; the only way to cure this cure is to kiss her true love. Ultimately, the plot follows the storyline of the beloved movie and takes the audience on Shrek and Donkey’s journey to stop the banishment of fairytale creatures to his swamp at the suggestion of Lord Farquaad, the leader of Dulac. to get them out of his swamp. The story unfolds into a quest filled with comedy, romance, and action as Shrek eventually meets Princess Fiona who saves him from a life of resentment and self-loathing while saving her from a life of imprisonment.
The set, created by sophomore Ella Warren, captured the essence of the story. From the forest, to Shrek’s swamp, to the kingdom Dulac itself, the designs brought the play to life. Other noteworthy elements of the play include the costumes and makeup. The costumes were ordered by the crew, but the makeup was done by sophomore Maddie Benitez.
One of the teachers from the drama club, Ms. White had given her statement on the opening night when the kneecaps Michael wore as his character had unexpectedly broken during the musical. She said, “That was the funniest thing-I didn’t see it. I heard him handle it like an absolute champion. Never broke character, consoment professional. I thought it was so funny.”
Ante Mustac, a senior that worked on the stage crew, had also stated, “That was pretty hilarious. He improvised it pretty well.”
The musical aspect of the performance showcased the talented vocals and dancing of LHS students. Towards the conclusion of the play, the whole cast danced to the song, I’m a Believer, by the Monkeys. It was the perfect ending, as all the cast members were up on the stage, showing themselves off to the audience because the musical was over.
The cast offered the Rampage some insider insight into each of their roles. When asked what he liked most about playing the leading role of Shrek, senior Manny Angomas shared, “the fart sequence and the burps. They were pretty funny. Me and Perla came up with a lot of it on the spot, but then Coach Bernice, he added the noise to it. But we made up like a lot of the choreography by ourselves.”
Senior, Perla Villacampa explained the excitement of reaching her highest note in one of the last songs of the show: “So that last note takes a lot of breath support, so that’s what took me the longest having to practice breathing, so that I can hold the note out as long as I can.”
Junior, Oscar Lopez, who played the hilarious Donkey, said he thought his funniest line of the show was” when I was talking to Shrek and I was like, ‘Shrek, I know you can hear me!’ Mainly because I get to talk in a deep voice.”
Michael Schirrmarcher, a senior in his third and final LHS show shared how he was able to recover from a mishap on stage, like a true professional performer. “I got very nervous because it was during the opening show, but I was able to recover and reattach them and the audience loved it.”
After four magical nights of dancing and singing, Shrek the Musical was one of the biggest spotlights of the school year. The LHS Drama Club did everything they could to put on one of the best performances in the history of our high school! The band, all the actors, Mr. Bernice, Mr. McCann, Ms. White, and Mr. Porter had all made this event to be nights to never be forgotten!
