Falkirk Operatic deliver a colourful production of Shrek the Musical

Falkirk Operatic Society’s long-awaited production is colourful, fun and has some star performers in many of the roles.

Quick synopsis of the story: ogre Shrek was happily living in his nasty swamp when his peace was disturbed by a host of fairy tale characters who have been thrown out their homes by the vertically challenged Lord Farquaad. When Shrek asks the evil lord to get rid of his unwelcome visitors, he is offered a deal – bring him Princess Fiona who has been in an ivory tower since the age of seven, so he can marry her and become a king and he will get rid of the visitors.

Our friendly ogre and his new pal Donkey rescue the princess from a fire-breathing dragon and bring her back for Farquaad. But what happens next I’ll not give away and spoil the surprise.

From curtain up this is a colourful and fun-filled show with lots of laughs, impressive individual performances, music and dance. Take a bow director and choreographer Judy Brown and musical director Jon-Luke Kirton for getting so much out of this cast but perhaps not as difficult as everyone appeared to be having so much fun.

The star of the show is Shrek brilliantly played by Darren Tasker. He commands the stage and his strong singing voice is matched by his comic delivery of the script which he nails completely. His side-kick Donkey is the wonderful Grant-Scott Johnson who appears to be relishing his role as the hoofed character helping out his new friend.

Take a bow Anne Rice who is a show-stopping Princess Fiona – she injects humour and pathos into the role in equal measure. Her performance of Morning Person was superb with all the wonderful comic touches.

For me, one of this show’s highlights was the three Fionas – young, teen and adult – singing I Know it’s Today. Beautifully sung, it was also cleverly staged, and well done to Abigail Brown and Lily Tracey who had the younger roles on opening night.

Victoria Hamilton may have been the evil Dragon but it was difficult not to love her as she sang Forever, another strong performance in a show littered with magical moments.

And what can you say about Ray O’Sullivan as diminutive Lord Farquaad apart from wondering how sore his knees are as he spends the whole show on them. A wonderful singing voice, his comic timing was perfect and he had the audience crying tears of laughter at every appearance.

There was so much to like about this production, including the dancing Rats, the toe-tapping Blind Mice and all the Fairy Tale Characters, with everyone appearing on stage working so hard to serve up a great opening night.

It would be impossible to review this show without mentioning the forced change of usual venue since the demise of Falkirk Town Hall. Unfortunately, there’s no raked seating which led to a lot of moving around at the interval as people sought a better view – easy to do on opening night but not if the show is sold out. I also found, particularly in the first half, the band was so loud at times it was almost impossible to hear clearly the cast on stage.

And the seating, well my advice would be to take a cushion. Then you can sit back in comfort and enjoy a terrific production.

Shrek the Musical runs until Saturday, April 15 at St Mungo’s High School with curtain up nightly at 7.30pm and 2pm for Saturday’s matinee.

Cast: Shrek – Darren Tasker; Princess Fiona – Anne Rice; Donkey – Grant-Scott Johnson; Lord Farquaad – Ray O’Sullivan; Dragon – Victoria Hamilton; Gingy – Amy Sutherland; Pinocchio – Victoria Davies; Three Little Pigs – Chris Brooks, Andrew Tasker and Steven Smith; Big Bad Wolf – Chris Hogg; Wicked Witch – Becky Blyth; Ugly Duckling – Amy Sutherland; Humpty Dumpty – Kim Fraser; Sugar Plum Fairy – Victoria Hamilton; Fairy Godmother – Elizabeth Donald; Peter Pan – Jennifer Hughes; Three Bears – Marion Dixon, Kyle Gordon and Carol Sutherland.

Young Fiona – Abigail Brown; Teen Fiona – Lily Tracey; Young Shrek – Fraser Marjoribanks (all Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evening); Young Fiona – Georgia Brown; Teen Fiona – Alba Williamson; Young Shrek – Callan Wilson (all Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinee).

King Harold – Eric Brown; Queen Lillian – Catriona Turk; Captain and Guards – William Cunningham, Dylan Allison, Chris Brooks, Eric Brown, Chris Hogg, Paul Rice and Robert Wardrop; Knights – Dylan Allison, Chris Brooks, Andrew Tasker and Steven Smith; Pied Piper – Andrew Tasker; Three Blind Mice – Becky Blyth, Kim Fraser and Victoria Hamilton; Blue Bird – Catriona Turk; Bishop – Eric Brown; Dragon Puppeteers – Kyle Gordon and Paul Rice; Mama Ogre – Janet Cameron; Papa Ogre – Paul Rice; Rats – Victoria Davies, Becky Blythe, Karen Chambers, Lisa Dunlop, Kim Fraser, Victoria Hamilton; Jennifer Hughes, Lily Tracey and Amy Sutherland.

Villages, Fairy tale characters and Duloc Citizens – Katrina Blair, Niamh Brooks Zara Brooks, Nicola Cowan, Karen Chambers, Lisa Dunlop, Jen Napier, Leigh-Anne Struthers and Robert Wardrop.