If you have dropped in here since last Tuesday (July 9) you have been seeing photos of a Brazosport Center Stages rehearsal of the summer show, Shrek, the Musical in the righthand column. (Note: The photos still appear at this writing but will move on as I post more photos on my Flickr site. To see tham any time, click this link and to go to the album.)
I am am pretty much one of the leaders on the pop culture illiterati so I did not look forward to the show and I had not intended to take archive photos. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I would attend a performance. Cartoon characters put to the stage never appealed to me. All I knew about Shrek was what I learned from doing crossword puzzles. I knew he as an ogre and that is really about all I knew.
Seeing the show on its opening night this Friday, however, reminded me again how much talent we have in this community and how much is required for a production of this kind. The people on the stage were simply amazing. And there were so many behind the scenes: artists who took care of makeup, props, lighting, sound, choreography, set designers and builders, painters, costumes, stage management (a major challenge with such a large cast in our venue), making music in the pit, and dozens others who did everything from serving coffee at intermission to corralling the many children in the cast and to keep order in the green room. Congratulations to Craig Fritz and Cindy Gernand who team-directed this very big show.
They were rewarded with a full house and an energetic, attentive audience. The attention of kids and families was riveted by the superb performances they were seeing. The theater boiled with excitement the entire evening.
Tickets are disappearing fast. When I checked about an hour ago, there were four scattered seats left for next Sunday’s final performance. There are more for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances but very few of them are in the center section. To see what is available and nail down a reservation go to the link provided here.
And the last photo shows an incredible dancer, singer and choreographer at work. Lyssa Rumsey is a very special talent. She was everywhere in this show.
And did I mention the sound effects? Well, buy a ticket, go and listen for yourself. Allow your inner teenager to have a laugh or two.
Good show, friends. You make this theater a special place.
South of Town: Notes and Scenes from Texas' Upper Gulf Coast 