Review: SHREK Welcomes Audiences Back to Allenberry

The saddest fact of theatre in Central Pennsylvania over the past couple of years has been the absence of the Allenberry Playhouse. However, thanks to the decision of the new owners of Allenberry Resort to have a theatrical organization take over its theatre, Dustin LeBlanc (formerly Artistic Director of Carlisle Theatre Company) and Keystone Theatrics have brought the Playhouse at Allenberry, as it's now officially termed, back into the swing of things. It's not in true full swing yet, as it hasn't gone back to entirely professional (as in paid) casts of actors (Keystone intends to head in this direction as soon as feasible), but that hasn't prevented it from doing a creditable, and professional, job of staging its first show of its new era, SHREK: THE MUSICAL.

With book and lyrics by David Lindsay Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori, SHREK has become a rapid standard at community and regional theatres nationally. There's no reason it wouldn't. It's peppy, ridiculously funny, and unrelentingly tuneful. It also has a host of pitfalls for the unwary, which director LeBlanc has nicely avoided. Shrek isn't bloviated, Donkey isn't entirely playing it for yuks, Princess Fiona isn't stultifyingly pretentious at her first meeting with Shrek, and Lord Farquaad - oh, never mind, Farquaad is a villain completely intended to be over (or in his case perhaps under) the top, and LeBlanc's run with that admirably.

Skylar Carran's leading ogre is not a tame one by any means, but he's also got more depth than roar throughout his performance. Shrek's a member of the walking wounded, an outcast among outcasts, and Carran portrays not only the chip on Shrek's shoulder but the vulnerability of his position. Ayat Muhammed, late of Carlisle Theatre Company's THE FULL MONTY, changes from Horse to Donkey, and his mood with it - and while this Donkey is comical, he's as vulnerable as Shrek, and just as conspicuously lonely. Muhammed's got a wide range in his acting arsenal, and this Donkey is fair proof of it.

Princess Fiona is played by Mackenzie Newbury with an edge of true frustration that's lovely to see. Fiona is often played as if the romance of the rescue overrides all of her exhaustion from years of its not happening; Newbury's Fiona, as directed by LeBlanc, still remembers all the niceties that are supposed to occur according to legend, but is just as happy, really, to get them out of the way. Her duet with Shrek, "I Think I Got You Beat," is not only the surefire audience pleaser it always is, but carries some actual weariness on both sides, a tribute to the sheer dysfunction in both of their lives. Similarly, her first act introduction, "I Know It's Today," is as frustrated as it is comic, and you can feel Fiona being ready to throw fairy tale advice for captive princesses out the window of her very high tower.

And then there's Lord Farquaad. Josh Miccio tears into this tiniest of major parts with the gusto it deserves. Farquaad is a mini megalomaniac, the true culmination of a Napoleon complex. Short of stature, huge of ego, he's the Snidely Whiplash of despotic rulers, and Miccio is clearly having all the fun that playing the character deserves. Both of his big numbers, "What's Up, Duloc" and "The Ballad of Farquaad," are gems on the Allenberry stage, and the audience has responded fully to the hilarity.

Carran is moving in the show's big ballad and first act close, "Who I'd Be," and the ensemble manages to do full justice to the rouser of an eleven o'clock number of the show, "Freak Flag," which rightfully brought down the house. The fairy tale character ensemble, including local talents Bryden McCurdy, Shshma Saha, and Jeremy Slagle among others, let loose in their full glory on it. It's one of the great ensemble pieces of modern musicals, enough to pump up any audience, and this ensemble was indeed belting it at full blast.

Speaking of full blast, the Playhouse has never been more audible. Perhaps the infamous sound problem the place has had for years finally has been solved. Although the pit band did play over the singers a few times, the fact remained that the show could be heard with reasonable clarity throughout the theatre, which is a marked improvement from a few years ago. Things are looking up - and not just in Duloc.

For a "non-professional" production, from direction to cast to sets, Allenberry and Keystone Theatrics are looking pretty professional out of the gate. The followup to SHREK comes in September, when we look forward to Keystone Theatrics' production of PETER AND THE STARCATCHER. LeBlanc's set himself a high bar for that production with this one. Through July 22. Visit www.allenberry.com for tickets and information, and to check this year's schedule. Check out the resort's features as well; Allenberry currently plans to resume its famous dinner and show schedules.

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