Shrek The Musical JR

This week the stage curtain raised for Shrek The Musical JR – Hutchie’s first performance of 2023.

With two casts to perform across the four shows, the Drama Dept had their work cut out for them. While Team Swamp and Team Castle began rehearsing, staff from every department across the school helped to bring the wow factor. From sewing costumes to painting plywood, making shields and masks to designing the programme, and building scenery to cutting keyrings, all bases were covered.

Monday was opening night and there were a lot of nervous butterflies fluttering in tummies, but this didn’t show on stage. As the band started and the lights lit up, so did the performers of Team Swamp.

On Tuesday afternoon, our P7 pupils arrived at Beaton Road to enjoy a special matinee performance by Team Castle. Gathering in the Drama studio, eager faces took their seats as the lights dimmed and the show began. From the wide smiles and loud laughs, the performers had the audience in hysterics with their witty one-liners.

By Tuesday and Wednesday evening, the production was a well-oiled machine, and a lot of fun was had on stage and behind the scenes. Shrek getting into costume was a group effort. With a hair dryer in hand, team tugging and a lot of talc… A LOT of talc, it was a mission, but S2’s Sheer and Rachael took their Shrek transformation in their stride.

Although this was a highly-entertaining story, it was also wonderful to see the cast adjust smoothly to singing with a live band – which is not easily done. Miss McGlynn led the band and performers into song after song, with the audience’s feet tapping away at the catchy tunes.

Stage design and scenery complemented the lighting and swamp fog, which helped set the scene for this adventure. Stage crew worked hard to remain in the shadows and create seamless scene changes, including the difficult job of transforming Princess Fiona into an ogre in under 60 seconds.

Thanks to our Technology Department, bright green Shrek keyrings were available to purchase as a souvenir and these were a huge hit. Just like the shows, they were a sell-out with all proceeds going to our school charity Cure Leukaemia.

The green ogre fun didn’t stop there, some of the cast made a surprise visit to Kingarth Street on Thursday to say hello to pupils before hanging up their costumes and storing away their green face paint.

Well done to everyone involved, from our stage stars and production team to backstage helpers and everyone in between, it’s been a fantastic Hutchie team effort from start to finish, with all performances taking the audience on a fun-filled fairy tale adventure.

Thank you to Shakeel Anwer from Propshak who expertly made both Shrek masks. The level of detail in their construction and the paint work was second to none. Thank you also for your invaluable time with Rachael and Sheer, to help them understand the process of applying and removing the masks for ease in the shows and storing afterwards.

Take a look through the photos below of our fabulous cast and crew. Photos courtesy of Rob Lindblade Photography – thank you for capturing the excitement and fun behind the scenes and on stage.

Click here to view the full album of photos available.