There’s still a lot of work to do, to be sure.
But Litchfield High School theater students can’t wait to bring their fall musical — “Shrek” — to the stage in a few weeks, even amid the pressure of high expectations.
“So many people have seen the show, including ourselves, that we kind of know what we’re looking for in ourselves and want to portray our characters,” senior Kayla Madigan said. “But it does have that whole other side where other people are also looking for those same things. So if you don’t get it exactly right, it might not be good.”
“There’s not a whole lot of room to play around with your character,” William Pennertz agreed. “There’s a really specific niche that … everyone expects from it.”
Such is the challenge of bringing a popular modern movie like “Shrek” — the comedic adventures of an anti-social ogre who becomes a hero — to life on the stage. All in about two months’ time.
Director Sarah Dollerschell admits it’s an ambitious undertaking — one for which several people asked whether her young theater troupe was prepared. But she’s confident they are up for the challenge.
Sure, with a little more than three weeks to go, rehearsals last week were still pretty rough, she said. But she’s used to seeing exponential growth and improvement over just a few days as show time approaches.
The same goes for some of the leading members of the cast, which includes a number of veterans, like Madigan and Pennertz.
Madigan, who plays Donkey, has been in six theater productions at LHS, counting both musicals and one-act plays. When she learned that Dollerschell had chosen “Shrek” for this year’s musical, she knew immediately what role show wanted.
“It’s just his personality is something that I’ve always kind of, like, fit myself into, just because he’s so outgoing and kind of crazy at times,” Madigan said with a smile.
Pennertz, who’s in the role of Lord Farquaad, said he didn’t really focus on a role he wanted. But being cast as the height-challenged villain of the show kind of made sense, he said.
“It’s fun,” he said of the role. “A little weird at times, but … I don’t know if there was another part that I would have preferred over this.”
Pennertz likely has the most experience of anyone associated with this year’s musical, having acted nearly a dozen shows, including LHS musicals throughout high school, in addition to Litchfield Community Youth Theatre and Litchfield Community Theatre.
Zariah Haynie, a junior, plays the role of Fiona in “Shrek,” another major part after having played the Dowager Empress in last fall’s LHS production of “Anastasia.” She’s been in other LHS one-act and musical productions, but always as “background characters.”
She said she was attracted to musicals originally by the singing, but has enjoyed the added challenge of acting, as well.
“It was definitely a learning experience,” Haynie said. “It was very … I don’t know, a little uncomfortable at first, but you just kind of learn to have fun with it.”
Sophomore Quentin Berube was cast in the leading role of Shrek. Though he’s the youngest of the students in lead roles, he has a lengthy theater resume, having acted in LHS musicals as well as LCYT and LCT productions.
“I really like the acting part of it,” Berube said. “And when I saw that it was ‘Shrek,’ I really wanted to take the opportunity. It was definitely the play that brought me … it’s the plays that keep bringing me back.”
Auditions for “Shrek” came the first week of the school year in early September, and the cast began rehearsals the following week. They’ve rehearsed from 6-9 p.m. weekdays, steering around athletic and work schedules.
It’s a busy routine that builds a camaraderie like one might find on a sports team, but different. The bond, and the love of acting, is what keeps many of them coming back to theater.
“I guess I just love the people who are all in it,” Madigan said. “The people who are in (theater) aren’t the people whose parents are, like, ‘you have to do it.’ This is something we all choose to do, because we love it, and then we end up getting to know each other insanely well after being together for three hours almost every weeknight. We just become a really close-knit group of people who love to sing.”
“All my friends are here, you know,” Haynie said. “So you can come here and be with your friends, and you can have fun and such a rewarding experience, too.”
