Weston Theater Company Presents SHREK: THE MUSICAL Free Performances Touring Vermont

Weston Theater Company announces its 2022 Young Company production: SHREK THE MUSICAL, playing June 22 - July 10 and touring venues throughout central and southern Vermont.

Follow Shrek, that lovable, stinky ogre on his quest to save quirky, captivating Princess Fiona from a dragon-guarded castle. There is something for everyone in this bighearted, fun-packed, and fart-joke-filled fairy tale.

Weston Theater Company joined with partners across Vermont to bring SHREK to audiences in their own towns, free of charge. Weston's presenting partners include Next Stage Arts Project, The Grafton Public Library, The Grafton Inn, The Mary L. Blood Memorial Library, The Albert Bridge School, Ascutney Outdoors, Brownsville Butcher & Pantry, Merck Farm and Forest, Park-McCullough House, ArtisTree, and The Springfield Town Library; with additional support through season sponsors Vermont Country Store, Casella, and Wohler Realty Group.

"We are so pleased to be able to offer the Young Company show as a free event for communities throughout Southern Vermont," says Weston's Executive Artistic Director, Susanna Gellert. "SHREK, our second annual Young Company tour, is sure to delight audiences young and old, near and far. It's a wonderful, joyful event that takes full advantage of Vermont's beautiful summers and it's sure to make us laugh out loud and dance on our picnic blankets."

The cast will be made up entirely of members of Weston's Young Company, a summer-long residency program for college aged performers. Piper Goodeve, director of SHREK, says, "SHREK is a wonderful show for the young and young at heart. And it is the perfect story for right now, all about inclusion and loving yourself and others for who you/they are. Full of funny songs and heartfelt scenes, ogres and fairytale creatures, tap numbers and moving ballads, this show has something for everyone."

Goodeve is returning for her 15th season with Weston. Past Weston credits include The Phantom Tollbooth (Director), Anne of Green Gables (Assistant Director/Musical Staging), Long Day's Journey into Night (Cathleen), All My Sons (Lydia), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Logainne), three years as Director of Education/Artistic Associate, and dozens of cabarets. She received a Drama League Award Nomination for Distinguished Performance for her performance as Anne in Anne of Green Gables (Off-Broadway) and holds an MFA from Brown University.

SHREK introduces Eli Hamilton (Marymount Manhattan College) as Shrek; Tomias Robinson (University of Michigan) as Donkey; Tommy Bergeron (The Hartt School) as Farquaad; Nadia Wilemski (Marymount Manhattan College) as Dragon; Anthony Bologna (CAP21/Molloy College) as Pinocchio; Bryanna Cuthill (Baldwin Wallace University) as Gingy; Ana Laura Santana (The Hartt School) as Peter Pan; Nile Andah (University of Michigan) as Wolf; and sees the return of Emma Diner (Pace University) as Fiona. Diner played Gertrude in last season's Young Company production of SEUSSICAL.

Michael Ruiz-del-Vizo brings the world of Duloc and fairy tale characters to the stage. Ruiz-del-Vizo earned his B.F.A. in Production Design with a concentration in Scenic Design and Art Direction from the Savannah College of Art and Design and has designed the set for many productions including THE BLUEST EYE (Theatreworks), ON YOUR FEET! (MAS, Carol Morsani Hall), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (TFHNYC), SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (SCAD), SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE (SCAD). His set will be highlighted by Lily Prentice's costumes. Prentice returns after designing the costumes for SEUSSICAL last season. She has previously worked with Beau Jest Moving Theater, 52nd Street Project, Urban Arias, Ars Nova AntFest, The New School, NYU Playwrights Horizons, Columbia Stages, numerous projects with choreographer Stefanie Batten Bland and has her MFA in Costume Design from NYU Tisch. Felicity Stiverson also returns as choreographer. Stiverson has choreographed many shows at Weston including RING OF FIRE, WEST SIDE STORY, THE FANTASTICKS, SEUSSICAL, THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, REALLY ROSIE, and TENDERLY.

SHREK will have performances at the Walker Farm Field in Weston June 22 - 25 and July 5 -10 at 1:00 PM. The production tour will perform in Grafton on June 26, Springfield on June 28, Putney on June 29, South Pomfret on June 30, North Bennington on July 1, Brownsville on July 2, and Rupert on July 3. All performances will be outdoors and are BYOS - Bring-Your-Own-Seating. For more information and to reserve FREE tickets, please visit https://westontheater.org/shrek.

Following SHREK, enjoy the music of Stephen Sondheim in MARRY ME A LITTLE, take a psychedelic journey with HAIR, visit the small town of Chinquapin in STEEL MAGNOLIAS, and reminisce with the music of Woody Guthrie in WOODY SEZ. Subscriptions and tickets are available online and by calling the Weston Box Office at 802-824-5288.

Weston Theater Company builds on and enhances the unique assets of its Vermont village campus to produce a diverse, entertaining, and challenging season of live professional theater and high impact events; enrich the theater-going experience with education and outreach programs for all ages; and make significant contributions to the American theater through training programs, play development, and retreats. It is a non-profit organization supported in part by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and an ever-growing family of individuals and organizations who believe in the impact the performing arts make on its community. Learn more at westontheater.org

To post a comment, you must register and login.