Reviewed by Margaret Thompson
When I told my kids we were going to see Shrek the Musical, their response was not what I was hoping for. “We’ve already seen that, Mom!” True enough. “But this is the CharacterWorks version, boys. You know this one will be different and soooooo good. Trust me, I think it will be worth seeing it again.”
And in true CharacterWorks form, the opening night performance did not disappoint. The first version we saw was incredible, truly it was. But there is something very different about watching a cast of a dozen tell a well-known story versus watching it done by a cast of about ninety kids. That’s right – ninety!
Set designer Peter Holleran and his team transformed the large stage inside The Robins Theatre at the Steward School into a swamp fit for an ogre and his would-be bride, and the 
opening ensemble songs set the stage for the very different evening I promised.
My 6-year-old remarked several times during the show that Shrek, played by 17-year-old Godwin senior Jake Smith, looked and sounded exactly like stage veteran Jason Marks, who portrayed Shrek in the Virginia Rep production last year. What a compliment that is for Jake! Fiona, performed on her home stage by 16-year-old Ally Dods, knocked it out of the park and showed her range of talents with her Broadway-caliber singing and acting. Sprinkled with lots of the humor that comes with this version of Shrek, the script was made for adults and kids alike, giving grown-ups so many reasons to LOL, such as the line in Donkey and Shrek’s Don’t Let Me Go “…we go together like donuts and diabetes.”
We loved Donkey, played by Veritas senior Charlie Allen (in his twenty-seventh CharacterWorks show!), and there were many other stand-out performances as well. My son is still talking about Gingy, played by 14-year-old Henrico High freshman Elise Nugent, and no amount of raving can do justice to the costuming and portrayal of Lord Farquaad, played by 16-year-old Omega Private Academy junior Jeremiah Rosmarin. I hesitate to even include the photos of Farquaad since the reveal is so much fun, but sadly for those of you without tickets, the entire run is sold out. That’s nine performances and 4,200 seats – that’s just how great CharacterWorks’ Shrek the Musical is.
(But hurry and you can enter to win the last available 4-pack to Sunday’s final performance on our Facebook page!)
Tickets go on sale December 22 at five o’clock for CharacterWorks’ next performance, Aladdin, coming up in February.
