From screen to stage: Southeast students perform 'Shrek The Musical'

The Oscar-winning 2001 animated film "Shrek" has come to life in the form of the stage musical now being presented at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

"Shrek: The Musical" features numerous Southeast students who have to go to significant lengths to bring the film's lively-animated characters to the stage.

Amber Marisa Cook, costume designer for the show, said she and director Kitt Lavoie worked closely together in an effort to "heighten reality."

Cook said the idea being the characters don't feel cartoonish despite being based on cartoons "so that they sort of feel like real-life versions that have more detail, more sort of real-life texture" than the cartoon.

"Anytime you do one of these like -- especially much beloved fairy tales that have a cartoon attached to them where people have really strong visual references -- I think it's a great challenge to try and put my creative spin on something, but keep it really familiar for the audience and then also have a little bit of fresh, sort of new, idea behind it," Cook said.

Southeast freshman Aliegha Ramos applies makeup to fellow Southeast freshman Jacob Donnelly while prepping to portray Mama Ogre and Papa Ogre, respectively, at a dress rehearsal of "Shrek: The Musical."

Southeast senior Cole Kennedy has to take a physically different approach to his character than other cast members when playing the vertically-challenged, antagonist Lord Farquaad.

"I spend the whole show on my knees," Kennedy said. "I have special pants with little legs attached to them so it makes it look like I'm short. And then the way my cape is built, it covers my legs."

Cook said there are some "trick changes" to facilitate the character of Princess Fiona, played by Southeast junior Jossyln Shaw, becoming an ogre and changing back again. She said it takes a team of four backstage to quickly change Fiona back and forth to make the moments happen. At the end of the show, Cook said the crew has about one minute and 20 seconds to perform Fiona's full-body costume and makeup change.

Lighting is another factor Cook said helps give the appearance of quick transformations.

The title character of Shrek, played by Southeast junior Andrew Feigenbaum, utilizes some prosthetics as well as makeup.

Southeast junior Jossyln Shaw portrays Princess Fiona during a dress rehearsal of "Shrek: The Musical."

"What you'll see on him is his normal face, but with a prosthesis kind of covering the rest of it," Cook said.

She also mentioned how the costume of Donkey, portrayed by Southeast junior Gabriel Generally, was built from scratch specifically for the actor; and how the nose of Pinocchio, which was designed and implemented by a student, grows in front of the eyes of those in the audience.

Lavoie, director of the musical, said the show is a "really great family musical that obviously people know because of the film."

The cast, Lavoie said, consists of Southeast students from The Jeanine Larson Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre and Dance as well as a couple of children who play child versions of Shrek and Fiona.

He said he loves the film and the musical has all of the humor of the movie, but Lavoie said the musical has "kind of a lot more going on in it."

"It's really in kind of some fundamental ways about, you know, people who feel very alone, who feel unlovable, who feel like the thing that they are is not something that anyone could love. Whether it's an ogre, or a secret ogre or a talking donkey ..." Lavoie said. "Really about the struggle that those people have to let other people in, even the people that want to be let in."

Lavoie said it's a subtext in the film, but with a musical there's the opportunity to let characters sing and explore those ideas.

The show premiered Wednesday, but there are still a few chances to catch "Shrek: The Musical" when the cast takes the stage at 2 and 7:30 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus.