More than 1,000 people attended Miami Trace Middle School’s (MTMS) two performances of “Shrek Jr.,” directed by Addison Metzger, the vocal music director/general music for MTMS.
The performances were held at the Quali-tee Design Performing Arts Center at Miami Trace High School last Saturday at 7 p.m., with approximately 600 ticket sales, and Sunday at 2 p.m., with approximately 500 ticket sales, according to Metzger.
According to Music Theatre International, “Shrek The Musical Jr.” is based on the “Oscar-winning DreamWorks Animation film and fantastic Broadway musical.”
Essentially, the plot follows an Ogre named Shrek who goes on an adventure with a talking donkey. The purpose of the adventure is to free Princess Fiona from a tower for Lord Farquaad in order to get Farquaad to rescind an order that banished fairytail creatures to Shrek’s swamp.
According to Metzger, the cast and crew for the show totaled more than 90 students. Seventh and eighth graders nearly ran the entire show including two eighth grade students acting as stage managers.
“Ultimately, the students have been working very hard in after-school rehearsals on the show since auditions in November of 2019,” explained Metzger. “The students shared a wonderful experience and were able to learn how to work together through moving set pieces, learning choreography and even helping one another with costumes.”
Those running the show, but not seventh or eighth grade students, included Metzger and Krista Wells along with Craig Campbell, who did their sound.
“The most difficult part about this show were the costumes, set pieces and makeup,” she explained. “We are all looking forward to next year’s show!”
Reach Jennifer Woods at 740-313-0355 or on Twitter @JennMWoods.
