“Once upon a time, there was a little ogre named Shrek…”

We all know the movie, but not all of us know the musical. You could if you come see the Florence Little Theatre's production of Shrek: The Musical! Being a part of this production has been an interesting, exciting process. This is from the perspective of an egg in the ensemble.

It began with a production team.

Before anything could happen, we had to have our fearless leaders. Our production team has been through every step of the process with us, not to mention all of the steps they went through even before auditions. This team consists of a director, an assistant director, stage manager, musical director, choreographer, makeup team, stage crew, props crew, set construction and designers, costume coordinators, lighting designer and technician, sound technician, and even more. There are so many people who have helped us make this production happen. Oh, yeah, and there's the immense dedication of the cast.

Then, there was a cast.

Auditions for this show were held in Janurary. I play the elaborate role of Humpty Dumpty in the ensemble of fairy tale creatures and it has been a blast. In my experience, being in the ensemble is one of the most rewarding roles you can play onstage. Some people feel that you have less to do or that you don't have much to work with to create a character, but that isn't true. There is always something to do and you can develop any character to enhance the show.

Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse.

We have been rehearsing since February 2016. For this show, we rehearse about 4 days a week. We began with musical rehearsals, then choreography rehearsals, then blocking rehearsals, and then we began to run the show. So much hard work, dedication and sweat has gone into this production and we can't wait to share it with the community.

New additions.

This is a huge show, largely dependent on costumes, puppets, and stamina. The addition of these things and musicians and eventually an audience is a huge part in helping the cast and crew begin to wrap up loose ends of the production.

Show time!

The audience is the last essential piece to any production. We perform for a few reasons: to entertain, to have fun, and sometimes we need it to stay sane. At the end of the day, we want to create art for an audience to relate to and learn from. We want to make others feel. To grow. And, of course, to have fun.

You are bound to have fun watching Shrek: the Musical at the Florence Little Theatre! Come join us!

Shrek will be showing at the Florence Little Theatre from April 22 until May 1, 2016.

417 S. Dargan Street, Florence, South Carolina | (843) 662-3731

Tickets cost $25 Adults and $20 for Students. This production is underwritten by ACS Technologies and NUCOR and is directed by Shaw Thompson.

"What makes us special makes us strong."