"Shrek The Musical" by Masque Productions.

Mansfield Palace Theatre.

I am sure that everybody by now must know the story of "Shrek", but just in case you've been living in a marshy swamp for the past few decades, here's a quick resume....

The story opens with young Shrek telling the audience of his childhood, and how, on his seventh birthday, his parents send him out of their house and into the big, bright, beautiful world to make his living. They warn him that because of his looks, everyone will hate him, and he will not have a happy ending. After attracting the friendship of Donkey, saving Princess Fiona from a dragon who had kept her locked in her tower, he delivers her to Lord Farquaad so that he can marry the Princess and become King of Duloc, just so that Shrek can get his marshy home back. On his way he meets many fairytale creatures and of course Donkey who becomes his best mate. Not everything quite goes to plan though!

It doesn't matter how many times I see this musical, there's always something that I spot that maybe I've not seen before, and with such a massive cast, that is almost very likely, or maybe a song sounds better, or different this time around; several reasons why I don't think I could ever tire of this show.

George Morley, who makes his debut for Masque Productions, is Shrek. From his first appearance on stage, you immediately notice the brilliant prosthetics for Shrek, possibly one of the best masks that I have seen with the most consistent green colour, so straight away a big thumbs up for the make up department. The voice is excellent, exactly the way you remember Shrek from the movies, in fact every nuance that you can remember from that first film is here on stage. George delivers some excellent vocals in the score department as well. From the comic one upmanship of "I Think I Got You Beat" to the wonderfully Celtic whimsy of "Who I'd Be" and the melancholy "When Words Fail", every emotion an ogre can have is out there.

Fabian Perry-Timson and Oliver Brennan share the role of  Young Shrek, and on Wednesday night I saw Fabian, another young actor making their debut with Masque and looking the spitting image, albeit on a miniature scale of George's Shrek, take to the stage.

Mama Ogre is played by Justine Wells and Papa Ogre is played by Simon Brickell who kick Young Shrek out into the "Big Bright Beautiful World" on his seventh birthday, advising him to beware of people with pitchforks!

James Hallam is Donkey. You can't fail to enjoy this performance because the fun is like osmosis with James. Not only are there some incredibly infectious duets with James and George, such as "Don't Let Me Go" and "Travel Song" but, for those who may not have ever seen the musical before, a brilliant Seventies style pastiche in the song "Make A Move", complete with Donkey in shades. I just know that the rehearsals with James and George were full of laughs, which has obviously forged the chemistry you get to see on stage.

Princess Fiona is played by Brooke Spedding. Brooke brings an equal amount of comedy to this show as Donkey and Shrek. The duet "I Think I Got You Beat" is as comical physically as it is lyrically, and I still chuckle at the "duet" with the bird in the nest at the start of the second act. "Morning Person" is a big song to open with after the interval and has a big tap number in it which shows Brooke's nifty footwork off perfectly.

Young Fiona is played by Prudence Morris and Georgiana Lawson, with Prudence performing on Wednesday night and making her debut for Masque Productions. Teen Fiona is played by Eden Holmes and Adelphie Fleet. Wednesday night saw Adelphie take to the stage. We first meet all three Fionas in the song "I Know It's Today" which cleverly sees the three stages of Princess Fiona over the years.

Jake Shirley plays Lord Farquaad, a part that will bring you to your knees. The script for Farquaad is one of those that you really have to listen to in order to get the full impact of the clever writing. Just as well that Jake not only has the ability to bring out the comic characterisation of this character, but has very clear diction with the delivery. Wonderfully camp in a way that reminded me just a bit of Charles Hawtrey in the "Carry On" films. There's a little twist on the scene when Farquaad's Dad is introduced to the party.... but more about that later!

Kelly Marsh provides the wonderful voice of the Dragon. Kelly has played some strong women over the years in musical theatre, but never one that blows hot and hotter. Dressed in a blood red ravishing dress that is as hot as Kelly's vocals, her big song is "Forever" and that power-packed vocal leading up to that end note will give you tingles.

The Dragon is one of the biggest Dragon puppets I have seen, practically filling the Mansfield Palace Theatre stage. The Dragon is brought to life physically by five puppeteers, Matt Henson, Steven Ratcliffe, Chrissie Smyth, Daniel Stride and Louise Stupple.

Tom Slack is Pinocchio in a performance that definitely is not wooden by any stretch of the imagination.

Holly Stevenson is Gingy, as well as Sugar Plum Fairy, and both Holly, as Gingy - the Gingerbread Man and Tom have voices that have the ability to attract all the cats in the Mansfield area through show week. How do they maintain that pitch I'll never know.

Evan Thomason-Vardy and Oliver Brennan share the role of Grumpy, that's his character by the way, not his attitude. Grumpy is Farquaad's Dad who gets invited to his son's wedding to Fiona. Now, every production, as far as I can recall, that I have seen of "Shrek the Musical" have an adult (also on their knees) playing this part. Masque have actually used a child, who still remains smaller than Farquaad. A brilliant directorial decision to utilise one of the group's children in this role. The Thomason-Vardy clan have acting running through their bodies, and Evan has massive confidence on stage and I loved the synchronicity of his dance moves in the final scenes to "I'm A Believer".

Baby Bear's role is shared by Madison Kendrick and Olivia Thomason-Vardy, Mama Bear is played by Liz Brennan and Papa Bear is played by Matt Jayes.

The cast list for this show is possibly one of the biggest stage cast list and many of the actors that I know are quite unrecognisable due to the marvellous make up and wonderful wigs, I just hope that I don't miss anyone out....

Brian Brooks (King Harold), Ruth Morris (Queen Lillian), Jan Hodgetts(The Wicked Witch), Tyler Piggott (Peter Pan), Garry Richardson (The Big Bad Wolf/The Bishop), Chrissie Smith (The Ugly Duckling),  Connie Fletcher, Lily Hewitt and Kay Thomason-Vardy (The Three Little Pigs), Amy Gunter, Hannah Winterton and Eleanor Wilkinson (The Three Blind Mice), Oliver Ward (Captain Of The Guards), Daniel Ivan, Harry Stevens (The Guards), Stephen Ratcliffe (Duloc Greeter), Caitlin Brennan, Chrissie Smyth, Kya Cairns, Ella Wragg, Heidi Benson-Loydall, Lauren Herbert, Lilly Hewitt, Paige Allan, Sarah Herbert and Vikki Walton (Duloc Performers), Adam Bryant Scott (Shoemaker's Elf), Adrian Toon (Humpty Dumpty), Eleanor Wilkinson (Tinkerbell), Stephen Ratcliffe (The Mad Hatter), Kya Cairns (The White Rabbit), Gavin Harper (Captain Hook), Sophie Coates (Alice In Wonderland), Paula McCrory (Queen Of Hearts), Lisa Bottomore (Fairy Godmother), Heidi Benson-Loydall (Goldilocks), Hannah Winterton (Little Red Riding Hood), Matt Henson (Thelonius), Rachel Fletcher (The Pied Piper), Amy Gunter, Hannah Winterton and Eleanor Wilkinson (The Dragonette Girls), Adam Bryant-Scott, Daniel Ivan, Harry Stevens (The Torched Knights), Caitlin Brennan, Chrissie Smyth, Ella Wragg, Lauren Herbert, Lily Hewitt, Paige Allen, Sarah Herbert, Vikki Walton and Heidi Benson-Loydall (The Rat Tappers), 

The Happy People are played by Amy Gunter, Jane McBride, O'cean Tucker, Tineke Fleet, Daniel Ivan, Harry Stevens, Matt Henson and Louise Stupple.

The Wedding Choir is made up of Paige Allen, Caitlin Brennan, Jane McBride, Rachel Fletcher, Heidi Benson-Loydall, Eleanor Percival, O'cean Tucker, Louise Stupple, Hannah Winterton, Vikki Walton and Ella Wragg.

The energy and the fun created by this massive ensemble of people is completely off the scale, and I think everyone will have their own personal favourite from these characters, meaning there's someone and something for everyone, young or old who come to watch this show.

Directed by Andrew Wolden, and there have been some brilliantly inspired casting choices throughout this show.

Set design is by Scenic Projects Ltd, whose name I have mentioned more than a few times in my reviews over the last couple of weeks. A wonderful set that is slid and flew into place with great ease as not to hinder the large cast.

Stage Management of such a large amount of people needs to be exact at every point and Eddie Ratcliffe as Stage Manager and Rachael Street as DSM did a great job.

Choreographed by Lynn Roberts. I love a big tap routine and this show has a wonderful tap section to open the second act. This is possibly one of the biggest choreography sessions in musical theatre and it looked spectacular from where I was sitting.

Musical Director is Roger Holland. the quality of the vocal ability within this group are testament to the amount of work that Roger has obviously invested in this production.

The Performance Track Technician is Elizabeth Wolden. Now I had to look up what this role involved so, if like me you didn't know, this is what the role entails.  They work from a cue script or run sheet, executing pre-planned cues for lighting, sound, or other technical aspects in real-time as the performance progresses. You see how educational theatre can be? Entertaining as well as educational, well for me anyway!

Costumes, which as you can imagine are absolutely out of this world are by D & S Costumes and co-ordinated by Kay Thomason-Vardy.

Make up is by Cora Machin, Natalie Midgley and Naomi Shaw, and as I stated earlier, the make up is so good that I really had a hard time spotting who was actually behind the make up and characters.

Sound Design by Kirk Jackson. This is always an area that I know that I am really critical on, but even though there were a few missed mic cues, the sound quality at Mansfield Palace is crystal clear and I heard every word spoken and sung.

Lighting Design is by Andrew Wolden, and there were some lovely touches that illuminated the side walls of the theatre as well as the stage area, making the colours spill over the stage area.

Masque have been swamped with support from patrons and tickets are now in short demand, in fact you could say that you'll be Dulucky to get a ticket for this monster of a show.

"Shrek The Musical" is at Mansfield Palace Theatre until Saturday 8 November.

 "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

This story takes me right back to my childhood days and I thought that this was my first vision of the stage performance, but I was wrong, and one scene reminded me of that fact.

For those unaware of the story it's about four siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy who discover the magical world of Narnia when they hide in an old wardrobe. They learn that Narnia has been under the spell of the evil White Witch, who keeps the land in perpetual winter, and they must help the great lion Aslan defeat her and restore Narnia to its rightful rulers. 

We start though with an emotive rendition of "We'll Meet Again" followed by a train journey brought to life by illuminated suitcases. Then there's the four children's initial reaction to their evacuation and their new home. The meet the nasty Mrs Macready, who had been sent to collect them from the station, and then their change of opinion after meeting the easy-going Professor Kirk.

And then Lucy discovers that wardrobe in the spare room, and we all know the story about the magic of Narnia and the battle between good and evil.

Let's start with the music. This is one of those productions that has the actors playing instruments on stage. Everything from percussion to flutes, fiddles to cellos plus a piano, creating the most evocative Celtic soundtrack to the action. The composers for the score is by Barnaby Race and Benji Bower and Ben Goddard Young is the Musical Director.

The puppetry was pure magic. Designed by Max Humphries and Directed by Toby Olie, from the Professor's pet cat to the magnificent lion, which took three puppet masters to operate, and like "War Horse" you grow to blank out the puppeteers and just see the animal itself. This is one show that truly benefits from having puppets as part of the story, adding another dimension of awe-inspiring viewing to theatre.

There is also a wonderful section which includes brightly coloured fluorescent cubes which seemingly skip across the stage and reassembles themselves into colourful human figure, all engineered by human hand.

The Lighting Design (Jack Knowles) was excellent, as was the Sound Design (Tom Marshall). The scenes that depict the speed of the passing of time are incredible, aided by the soundscape and the brilliant lighting effects.

There were actors flying around the stage, exciting fight choreography and an amazing section where Aslan (Stanton Wright) completely disappeared in front of your eyes. There are many scenes which included magic and illusion, created by Chris Fisher, which simply astounded not only the younger audience members but everyone.

The costumes are incredible, and in Act Two there is a section with some extremely scary heads, which had the possibility of giving some of the kids watching nightmares. I may even sleep with the side light ON tonight! I had flashbacks of the Pink Floyd video for "Another Brick In The Wall" but even more frightening. The set and costume designs (Tom Paris) were amazing.

The whole wonderful shebang was directed by Michael Fentiman.

Katy Stephens played Mrs Macready as well as The White Witch was deliciously evil. Looking absolutely gorgeous but boy you'd not want to cross her! Another slight of hand/eye illusion made her disappear from the centre of the stage near the end.

Jesse Dunbar (Peter), Bunmi Osadolor (Edmund), Joanna Adaran (Susan) and Kudzai Mongombe (Lucy) were all excellent and quite believable as the four Pevensie children who were evacuated up North. Alfie Richards was a wonderful Mr Tumnus. 

Stanton Wright is Aslan, Soldier and Hedgehog. You can feel a collective intake of breath when Aslan slowly walks onto the stage due to the magnificence of the vision of such a regal creature. Aslan's roar seemed to make the walls of the theatre shake.

A large cast which meant that there was always something, and someone to keep an eye on.

Elliott Clay (Mr Pope and Foxtrot), Andrew Davison (Mr Wilson, Schoedinger, Jack Rabbit, Head Cruel and Aslan Puppeteer), Anya De Villiers (Mrs Beaver), Molly Peters (Aslan Puppeteer, Mrs Pevensie and Robin), Ffion Haf (Miss Gumley-Warmley and Pheonix), Rhiannon Hopkins (Miss Chutney and Blue Badger), Joe Keenan (The Spirit Of The Moon, Mr Granville and the Red Squirrel), Alfie Richards (Badger and White Mouse), Craig Thornber (The Professor, Father Christmas and Wise Owl), Ed Thorpe (Mr Beaver), Rhodri Watkins (Mr Brinkworth, Aslan Puppeteer and March Hare), Shane Anthony Whiteley (Maugrim, Satyr and White Stag).

  

The rest of the team are Ruby Greenwood, Oliver Magor, JB Maya, Luca Moscardini and Marc Serratosa.

Choreographed by Shannelle "Tali" Fergus. 

The Wigs, Hair and Make-Up is all by Susanna Peretz.

The Stage management is one of the slickest that I have seen with props and scenery literally flying on and off stage.

The whole show, from start to finish is magical, whatever age you may be, and if like me you have fond memories of the novel, you are going to absolutely adore this stage version.

"The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 8 November.