Everybody knows the face and voice of the green, dirty ogre named Shrek. Shrek the Musical was brought to life the past two weekends by the incredibly talented Community Theater of Howell (CTH). The cast members went above and beyond for this show and blew me away completely.

The cast has been working hard since auditions in August. The play flowed very smoothly and was well rehearsed. One thing that really caught my attention was the costumes. Shrek had his face painted an ogre green and had ears just like Shrek, and Donkey has his own fuzzy donkey suit. The voices were also amazingly similar to the well-known voices of the movie characters.

I found myself laughing through a good 75% of the play, and the audience continuously was applauding and laughing at the abstract things coming out of Donkey’s mouth. Sometimes it was the quirky wordplay, or the way the actor had delivered the line.

“The audience loves the unexpected humor and all of the costumes and fairytale creatures. Their reactions are what motivate us to be on our best game,” cast member Lauren Bryne said. Bryne has been in a total of 13 shows. She plays the roles of: Villager, Duloc Doll, Pied Piper, and one of the Three Blind Mice in Shrek the Musical.

Bryne also stressed that the cast is one of the best casts she has been able to be a part of. Even as an audience member, I could see how close-knitted this group is.

“We have one of the kindest, most caring casts I have ever been in. It’s the one thing I’ve loved most about this show,” Bryne said.

Another astonishing feature of Shrek the Musical was the choreography. Anni Ulman is the mastermind behind the movement, which I personally think added a lot to the musical numbers.

The magical story of Shrek was portrayed flawlessly by the talented cast of CTH. The singing, dancing, and acting swept everyone off of their feet. Not literally though, since the audience gave the whole cast at least a few minutes of standing ovation after the curtain call.

“I thought the play was really amazing, it brought me back to when I was a kid and was obsessed with Shrek and Fiona,” says junior Howell High School student Bella VanMullekom.

The classic storyline was given a whole new meaning by this Shrek performance. It doesn’t matter if you’re young, or old, this play is timeless and I congratulate the Community Theater of Howell on their fabulous performance.