MEREDITH — Rehearsals for The Streetcar Company’s upcoming production, 'Shrek: The Musical' are in full swing.
Cory Chapman, a security guard at the National Guard Base in Concord, is playing the swamp-dwelling ogre Shrek. After a brief performing hiatus, he is excited to take on this larger than life role. “Shrek and I both have layers, we are stubborn, we are both kind of outcasts and sooner or later we open ourselves up to others.”
Appearing as the damsel in distress, Princess Fiona, and making her debut with Streetcar, is Anna Williams. A full time pre-dental student at Manchester Community College majoring in life sciences, Williams works part-time at Aroma Joe’s. Williams loves that Fiona is “the not so princessy Princess, her personality is so quirky, goofy and she tries so desperately to hide it, but ultimately must be who she truly is.”
In the role of Shrek’s wisecracking sidekick, Donkey, is David Nelson, a longtime member of Streetcar. Nelson works for LRGHealthcare, and being part of the musical is important to him every year. “This show is full of hilarious parts. My character is very silly, immature and light-hearted.”
Playing the pint-sized villain Lord Farquaad and appearing in his 100th show is Scott Alward. By day Scott is the head of security and fraud investigations for a credit union. He said, “Farquaad is funny, sarcastic and evil in a prissy way and just a lot of fun to portray.”
Hailing from Gilmanton and playing the role of Gingy is 13-year-old Isabella Cottrell. She is a home school student in seventh grade. She likes the “attitude and sassiness of this character. I like how funny the character is and although it’s a smaller role, Gingy has a big personality."
Ryan Witham, a senior at Gilford High School, was accepted to Plymouth State University this fall, majoring in music education. He will be portraying the wooden boy Pinocchio. “It is fun to play a not-so-confident person.”
Tackling the role of Dragon is Kristi Laurendeau, a software tester for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. She feels the musical gives the characters more depth than the film. “This show has lots of throwback moments to musicals of years past,” said Laurendeau.
When the cast was asked what audiences will take away from the show, their answers were very similar. Alward remarked, “they’ll expect a good time, some entertainment and a bit of off color humor, which the show has, but I think it has a greater message than the movie. The musical teaches that it’s okay to be yourself, no matter who you are.”
'Shrek: The Musical' brings the characters from the film to life on the stage. This show is sure to entertain the entire family April 26-28, at Inter-Lakes Community Auditorium. For tickets, visit www.streetcarcompany.com.
'Shrek: The Musical' is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International. To learn more, visit www.MTIShows.com.
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