Offstage joy brings true heart to Aspire Community Theatre’s ‘Shrek the Musical’

He’s green. He’s grumpy. And he would love nothing more than to be left alone.

Still, audiences have fallen for Shrek, watching him, his chatty friend Donkey and the independent Princess Fiona go from page to screen to stage.

The trio, plus a crew of fairytale creatures like the Three Little Pigs and the Three Blind Mice, are the stars of Aspire Community Theatre’s production, which opens Friday and runs through May 3 at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Coeur d’Alene.

“Shrek the Musical” features music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. It’s based on the 2001 film “Shrek” as well as pieces of “Shrek 2,” “Shrek Forever After,” and the novel “Shrek!” by William Steig, which was published in 1990.

At the top of the show, curmudgeonly ogre Shrek (Jacob McGaughey) is met with a crew of fairytale creatures, who have made their way to his swamp after being banned from the Kingdom of Duloc by evil Lord Farquaad (Abe McKinney).

Upset at their arrival, Shrek travels to Duloc. While on his way, he rescues Donkey (Gatieh Nacario), who has the gift of gab, from Farquaad’s guards. In return, Donkey insists on showing Shrek the way to Duloc.

At the same time, Farquaad learns via a magic mirror that he can become a king if he marries a princess. Cue the dating show “This Is Your Wife,” where Farquaad learns of Princess Fiona (Taylor Wenglikowski), who is trapped in a castle guarded by a dragon (Helen Larreau).

Before the magic mirror can let Farquaad in on a secret Fiona has been hiding, he leaves to find a knight who can bring the beautiful princess to him. The knight for the job, it turns out, is Shrek, who, along with Donkey, agrees in exchange for peace and quiet back at his swamp.

After a rough start at the castle, Shrek, Donkey and Fiona are on their way to Duloc, with Shrek and Fiona going from enemies to friends along the way.

The friendship starts to develop into something more until a misunderstanding puts the two at odds. Plus, there’s still the problem of what to do about Farquaad and the fairytale creatures.

The musical also stars Elias Underhill, Kari Wilsey, Zeke Bradbury, Paislee Dunbar, Camdyn Hooks, Rachel Williams, Ryan Prades, Jessica Peterson, Blake Liden, Luke Odenthal, Alanna Salcido, Collin Thompson, Emma Hoit, Stormy Christopherson, Paige Hardy, Marianna Madsen, Scarlet Hunt, Juliet Hunt, Sarah Noble, Trigger Weddle, Ian Sadler and Makayla Kaufman.

“Shrek the Musical” is directed by Abel Siemens, music directed by Presley Dupuis, choreographed by Weddle, associate choreographed by Paisley Siemens, stage managed by Peyton Kellner and assistant stage managed by Mickaylea “Kiki” David.

Abel Siemens grew up watching the “Shrek” films and was introduced to “Shrek the Musical” a few years ago. When Weddle, Aspire’s executive artistic director, asked Siemens if he was interested in directing “Shrek the Musical,” the nostalgia of the story compelled him to say yes.

“It’s a great adaptation of a movie to musical, because it’s really faithful to the original source material, the original movie, but does all the things in terms of bringing it on the stage and turning it into a musical, adding the classical concepts and ideas we associate with musicals to ‘Shrek,’ ” he said. “You have tap dance, large musical numbers and group numbers, a great ensemble and, obviously, really good leads.”

Siemens wanted his production to stay true to the medieval fairy tale aesthetic at the center of “Shrek” while also having enough personal touches to make the production feel fresh. With the variety of places the story of “Shrek” goes, from a swamp to a castle to a game show set and more, Siemens had a lot to play with.

Scenes changes will feel like the pages of a storybook have been turned, and Siemens even has the characters walk out of a storybook at the top of the show. He and the crew have some tricks up their sleeves to handle the character of Dragon and Fiona’s, shall we say, transformation that they hope makes the audience feel like fairytale magic is alive and well.

While staying true to the source material, Siemens also wanted to give the actors space to put their own spin on their characters. He said the cast has enjoyed getting to find moments that make them laugh and, hopefully, make the audience laugh too.

Actors like McGaughey and Nacario, playing Shrek and Donkey, respectively, have brought elements of their off-stage friendship onstage, making the pair’s connection seem more authentic.

“They’ve each brought so much individual care to those characters and their offstage friendship, how they interact with one another as people makes their chemistry on stage so much funnier and the friendship so much more clear,” Siemens said. “They’re incredibly talented individuals, and they bring a lot of genuine joy and happiness to the roles in each rehearsal.”

The music boosts the level of joy even more, Siemens said, with each song bringing a lot of heart and humor. Siemens is excited for audiences to experience “Morning Person,” which features tap choreography by Paisley Siemens, and “What’s Up, Duloc?,” which Weddle made “goofy and hilarious.”

“Each song brings so much heart and humor,” he said. “If (audiences) haven’t already seen ‘Shrek the Musical,’ they’ll either fall in love with it all over again, or they’ll fall in love with it for the first time.”

Though Shrek is known for being a Debbie Downer, there is a lot of heart to his journey and earnestness to the show as a whole.

At its heart, Siemens said, “Shrek the Musical” is about the fear that comes with putting yourself and your perceived flaws out there.

Siemens talked with the cast at the beginning of rehearsals and told them that at the center of “Shrek” is a message of joy, unity and finding happiness in each other’s presence. He likens it to musical theater, where everyone is coming together to work on a shared goal that they can all be proud to present to an audience.

“ ‘This is all about joy,’ ” he told the cast and crew. “ ‘This is all about working amongst one another and celebrating each other’s victories.’ That has really, truly been what the rehearsal process has been because each of the cast members are working alongside one another and finding the funny moments, finding the sweet moments and making the show shine with so much happiness.”