Curtain Call for SHREK

Well, this is it. My journey with SHREK: The Musical at NPS has finally reached its conclusion. What a bittersweet final performance. Not only did all three shows receive standing ovations, but they were also completely sold out. What an honor! 

As usual, the highlights of the performance:

The Dragon, Dragonettes, Knights and Donkey in  "Donkey Pot Pie." Notice the awesome purple lighting!

Me communicating with the backstage crew through my head set.

Donkey singing "Don't Let Me Go." He brought the house down!

Lord Farquaad proposing to Fiona

adjusting mic volumes during "Freak Flag"

Beautiful gifts from the cast! I was so touched.

I stayed after the performance to collect props, organize costumes, and get everything ready to be returned to RIYT or to Hendricken, where we rented  most of them from. The process required laying out all of the costumes that went together (i.e. Dulocians, Guards, fairy tale creatures, etc.), figuring out whether they belonged to Hendricken or to Ann, and packing them into labeled bins to be delivered to their respective homes.

A shot of me and my wonderful associate and mentor, Vanessa Miller! (Notice the set has already been taken down...only an hour after the curtain closed) 

Lord Farquaad is at it again...for the last time!

My sister and I after the show. We worked together on the sound board today!

Final bows

Gingy: "God bless us, everyone!"

 What an amazing way to end a spectacular production. I could not be more proud of these students. I want to thank my mentor, Ms. Miller, Jimmy, Chelsea, Lila, the parent volunteers, the crew, and the entire cast of SHREK for making this such an incredible experience for me! I am so happy that I chose SHREK as my senior project. I learned so much about producing a musical - from fundraising to tickets to microphones - and I feel prepared to take on any challenge theatre has in store for me. Congratulations to all on an unbeliavable performance! That's a wrap!

Another Sold-Out Show

By the time people started arriving to buy tickets, we only had 20 available seats because so many tickets had already been reserved online. Like last night, I set up extra chairs at the ends of aisles and in the back to accommodate the overflow. What a thrill it is knowing that our theater is not even big enough for all of the people who want to see SHREK!

A clip of a typical pre-show "warm-up," which we use to calm nerves but increase energy and focus. Tongue-twisters like this one are an excellent way to get the actors thinking about diction and enunciation:

Here are some highlights from tonight's performance:

Shrek trying to convince the fairy tale creatures to leave his swamp

The Dulocians performing "What's Up Duloc"

Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey's first meeting

Pinocchio: "Sometimes, being a fairy tale creature sucks pine sap!"

Gigi, who played the bishop in this scene, filled in for a student who could not make tonight's performance. Another student, Paige, also got sick today and we had to prepare an understudy to go on for her at the last minute. Anything can happen, so you need to know how to roll with the punches!

Johnny (playing Grumpy, Lord Farquaad's father) was one of our high school additions to the middle school cast.

The wedding scene, when Shrek finally confesses his love for Fiona and prevents her marriage to Lord Farquaad.

Representatives from the Moss Hart Award Foundation came to review tonight's performance. One of the parents spoke to them afterward and definitely received positive feedback. The judges were very impressed by how talented and well-developed the students were at such a young age, as was I! Hopefully, they will consider us for the Moss Hart Award for Best Youth Production.

I sat in the first row of the house with Rachel (sound board) and Matt (sound effects). I observed and took over the sound board for a couple of scenes. I practiced the cues for the sound effects as well as switching mics on and off because I'll need to help Rachel tomorrow when my cousin, Matt, is not there. I have gotten all of the timing down for the dragon roar and Shrek's...err...fart. In addition, I've practiced adjusting microphone levels and turning them on at the right time, so I feel confident about doing it without Matt's help at Sunday's performance.

A couple of microphones were not working, which made the actors' voices too soft for the audience to hear. I realized that the batteries had probably died in the mic packs, so I snuck backstage with new batteries so the mic crew could replace the old ones. That did the trick!

In addition, I e-mailed customers the form to order DVDs so that everyone has the opportunity to buy a copy. 

Only one more performance of SHREK to go. I am devastated that this journey is about to come to an end, but I cannot wait for the cast to impress another audience tomorrow afternoon!