Review: 'Shrek The Musical' by Newbury Musical Theatre Company

“Story of my life…”
Southbury, CT - Newbury Musical Theatre Company was back again this weekend with a splashy production of ‘Shrek The Musical.’ This marked the ninth summer production for the company that is based in Southbury as they presented the fairy tale musical on the Pomperaug HS stage in Southbury, complete with a fabulous 14-piece orchestra. Previous productions for Newbury include ‘Oklahoma,’ ‘Anything Goes,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast, Jr.,’ ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and last year’s ‘Hairspray.’ This year the junior division did ‘Peter Pan, Jr.’
Some may dismiss the story of the journey of the green ogre as “just for kids” or worse, but I always enjoy it. I love picking out the costumes that identify the displaced fairy tale creatures and I can’t resist a donkey who can’t stop talking. The musical numbers continue to grow on me at each additional rendition and it is fun to see how each director will tackle the technical challenges. In this case, director Jim Tornatore did a great job with all of them and he had time to appear in the show as one of the palace guards/prisoners.
Jacob Rogotzke, a rising senior at Pomperaug, was “big” in the title role; he was big on stage presence, big on voice, big on being green. This role was written for this talented young actor.

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The musicians of all ages, under the direction of Stephanie Tornatore, did a great job with the various styles of musical numbers. Mr. Tornatore thanked a slew of people for their contributions during his curtain speech and taught us how to sing “I Believe” during the curtain call. I must admit that the final number was filled with joy for both the cast and the audience during this closing performance. Congratulations to Newbury on another fine production; I look forward to next year.

Photo by Molly Farrell-Savage