"Shrek The Musical"

Derby Youth Musical Theatre.

Derby Theatre.

Shrek is a green ogre who lives in a swamp just outside the kingdom of Duloc. He finds out that the kingdom is becoming corrupt and that Lord Farquaad has plans to become the next King, but he needs to marry a Princess to be able to do this. Shrek makes a deal with Lord Farquaad to save the swamp but he has to first do something for Farquaad. Along with his loyal steed Donkey, Shrek sets off on a quest to rescue the beautiful Princess Fiona from her tower, guarded by a fire-breathing, love-sick dragon. Add a gang of fairy-tale misfits, and a biscuit with attitude and you’ve got an irresistible mix of adventure, laughter and romance!

And not forgetting a brilliant fun soundtrack as well. "Freak Flag", "Make A Move", "Big, Bright Beautiful World", "Story Of My Life", "I Know It's Today", "Who I'd Be", "When Words Fail" and of course the final belter "I'm A Believer".

Playing Shrek is Billy Sweet, who brought everything that you would want from a green ogre to his performance. He had comedy, he had stage presence and he has a very strong set of vocal chords; but that came as no surprise to me, having seen Billy perform in the past, notably as Pharoah in Derby Youth Musical Theatre's production of "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat", last November. Great prosthetics for Shrek and a real sweet performance.

Daniel Pimperton plays Shrek's sidekick, Donkey. I love the character that Dan brings to Donkey, along with the comedy and the accent. Dan gets some wonderful songs to sing like "The Travel Song", "Forever" and especially "Make A Move". The costume and make up for Donkey are also excellent, and whoever is responsible for the make up is a very talented individual.

Bella Syson plays Princess Fiona. Yet another wonderful voice, as shown in the opening of Act Two where Bella also shows off her dancing skills in a brilliantly choreographed showstopper of a number called "Morning Person", followed by the equally wonderful "I Got You Beat", the duet with Shrek. It doesn't matter how old you are, a "fart" gag is funny, which is what makes this particular section a musical hit.

Playing the young Princess Fiona is Ava Hickling, and I don't know how old Ava is but she already has a beautifully controlled voice.

Teen Fiona is played by Robyn Preston, and like Ava, that voice is superb. I can't wait to hear both Ava and Robyn's voices when they get older. When they sing with Bella the three voices merge beautifully.

One role that is sure to bring an actor, quite literally to their knees, is that of Lord Farquaad and this part is played by fourteen year old Takoda Liverman. Takoda I have never seen on stage before, as this is his debut for Derby Youth Musical Theatre, but what a find this man is. You can tell that he has had experience on stage due to the confidence he shows every second Takoda is on stage. He really encapsulated the character, brought out the comedy and sings brilliantly. But let's take a minute to appreciate the choreography for this role, all of which is performed on your knees.

Caitlin Smith is Gingy, the opinionated Ginger Biscuit. This requires, not only puppetry but also a certain vocal technique. Caitlin also doubles up as Sugar Plum Fairy.

Georgia Bullock plays the Dragon, well the voice of the dragon, and what a voice. Georgia is a disco diva in the mould of people like Donna Summer, Amii Stewart or Gloria Gaynor and The Dragon's big song, "Forever" has never sounded so powerful; it's not only the dragon's wings that were soaring on Thursday night.

The Dragon herself was engineered by Sarah Doughty, Oscar Drake, Rachel Casey, Sam Reed and Lauren Wells. And what an impressive Dragon she was; I'd have guessed over twenty feet high with an impressive wingspan and looking absolutely superb.

Playing Pinocchio is Riley Chambers. Talking as well as singing in the higher, more squeaky range as the wooden puppet, sorry boy, really created the right image.

This is a very big cast, so here's the rest of the characters that you can see onstage.......

Ania Rakic (Wicked Witch), Ralph Garnham (Peter Pan), Thomas Smith (Mad Hatter), Liliana Simmons-Clark (Mama Bear), Ben Mather (Papa Bear), Poppy Fawcett (Baby Bear), Bella Carolan (Ugly Duckling), Eddie Clarkson (White Rabbit), Megan Beastall (Fairy Godmother), Hannah Lake (Humpty Dumpty), Stevie Kirkham (Big Bad Wolf), Ethan Adamson, Taylen Brodsky and Teddy Osborn (The Three Pigs), Taylen Brodsky (Thelonius/Papa Ogre), Rachel Redfern (Queen Lillian/Elf), Louis Whitfield (Captain Of The Guard/ King Harold), Finley Williams (Pied Piper/Bishop) and Louie Drake (Young Shrek/Grumpy The Dwarf).

Abi Ashforth, Daisy Hamilton and Emilia Shapcott were the incredibly stylish Three Blind Mice who also contributed to another one of my favourite scenes with Donkey in Act Two in "Make A Move".

The Ensemble of Villagers, Wedding Guests, Knights, Guards, Duloc Dancers and the Rat Tap Dancers are Ruby Armstrong, Abi Ashforth, James Bailey, Michael Bately, Emily Box, Georgia Bullock, Emily Campion, Eddie Clarkson, Millie Dalziel, Poppy Fawcett, Ralph Garnier, Daisy Hamilton, Katie Kirk, Robyn Preston, Emilia Shapcott, Tia Shaw, Louis Whitfield and Finley Williams.

Directed by Holly Earl. assisted by Hope Lo Monaco. I have always said that a Director with a vision is the making of a memorable show, no matter how many times you've seen a show previously. This production certainly has some lovely subtle additions, including, either a flashback to a previous DYMT show, or a mention for another society's show coming up in the next few weeks by having a very colourful character appear from a side entrance of the theatre. There are also several nods to other musical theatre shows throughout, especially in the musical arrangements. A very clever production which gives regular theatre goers like myself a few things to notice, as well as creating a first class show for anyone who has not seen the show previously.

I will also state that near the start of the show there was a stoppage, something that Directors are never in favour of doing, but after Donkey threw himself on the floor there was a lot of crackling from the mic pack, resulting in us not getting an amplified Daniel. Stage Crew came to the stage and advised that there was a technical issue and that the scene would be restarted. Daniel has a really good projection technique but as there was a song coming up, without amplification, we may have had a problem hearing him. After a short gap, the story was taken up again. This was a brave action for a Director/Stage Crew to take, but a wise one under the circumstances.

Musical Director is Charlotte Daniel, a well respected name where MD ing is concerned. I don't know if it was Charlotte who arranged the music, but I loved listening to the slight change in musical arrangements, that maybe I had not heard or picked up on in other productions. There are several nods to other musicals like "Frozen", "Les Miserables" and "Dreamgirls" among them, so if you, like me are a fanatic of musicals, see how many nods you can spot. Charlotte heads up a ten-piece Shrek Band who sound marvellous.

Choreographed by Caroline Green Dance, assisted by Ellie Beech. The massive cast carried out the choreography impeccably, especially the tap dance section, bringing a Hollywood style feel to the choreographed scenes. Dance Captain is Caitlin Smith.

Technical Director is Kate Borrington and Technical Advisor is Chris Moss.

Set Design is fun, colourful, sparkly and brilliant, all at the same time, but there's no mention in the programme as to who is responsible and who provided the set.

Head of Wardrobe is George Cooper, Costumes thanks to Utopia Costumes.

Sound Designer is Harry Greatorex, and with all the sound experience that Harry has, we are guaranteed a spectacular, clear sound, well mixed. Sound 2 and 3 are thanks to Sophie Gitcham and Liv Michaud and Trainee Sound Technician is Sam Jackson.

Lighting Designer is by Jamie Vella and brings a real fun and colourful rainbow of light design to highlight the fun onstage. Training Lighting Technician is Corey Donnelly.

Stage Managed by Pete Roberts with Deputy Stage Manager being Izzy Longson and assistant Stage managers being Reece Bland, Hannah Casey, Rachel Casey, Oscar Drake, Findlay Parker and Lauren Wells. This is a big show but is really well stage managed by this stage crew.

There is another BSL interpreted show on the Saturday matinee by Natasha Redfern.

This is the perfect show to lift you out of the swampy doldrums and by the end of the show you'll be flying that freak flag high and proud.

"Shrek The Musical" is at Derby Theatre until Sunday 20 September.