Shrek comes to life at BP High School

The first ever musical to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is coming to life at Blooming Prairie High School and taking on a life of its own that has never been seen before at local performances going back a half century.
Shrek will take center stage next week, though audiences will be forced to adjust to a new way of seeing it.
Because of COVID-19 regulations, there will only be two people per cast member allowed in attendance for each performance Nov. 13-15, according to Tamzen Johnson, director of the musical. Other people will have to gather by their computers or TV sets in the comforts of their homes to watch the musical live stream on Friday, Nov. 13.
Shrek features 27 cast members in grades 9-12. One third of the cast members are new to the stage while the rest have taken part in past musicals, Johnson said.
The main characters are Reese Millam as the Dragon, Halle Strunk as Donkey, Charlie Heimerman as Shrek, Isabelle Sunde as Ogre Fiona, Brad Simon as Lord Farquaad, Mason Simon as Gingy, Sam Pirkl as Thessolonius and Dominick King as Captain of the Guard. 
In the story, an ogre called Shrek finds his swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures who have been banished by the corrupt Lord Farquaad aspiring to be king. Shrek makes a deal with Farquaad to regain control of his swamp in return for rescuing Princess Fiona whom Farquaad intends to marry. With the help of Donkey, Shrek embarks on his quest but soon falls in love with the princess, who is hiding a secret that will change his life forever.
Johnson said the musical will feature a variety of fairy tale characters, including the Three Little Pigs, Big Bad Wolf, Gingerbread Man and Pinocchio.
“It’s a fairy tale with a happy ending,” Johnson says. “We are pretty excited about it,” she said.
The musical will display some unusual costumes. “We had to figure out how to dress people like an ogre and dragon,” said Johnson, who has been involved with the high school musical for 30 years with 15 as director. They also had to get creative with the make up. Margo White is handling make up duties while Amy Trotman assists with costumes.
The greatest challenges with this year’s performance have nothing to do with the characters, but rather in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and how it shapes the overall performance. Besides not having normal size audiences, the musical will be forced to adjust to not having an orchestra this year, again resulting because of the pandemic. Instead, Amelia Harthan will be playing on the keyboards.
Rehearsing has also come with its challenges this year. Prior to the cooler weather setting in, cast members rehearsed outdoors. Johnson noted all students have been masked and practice social distancing.
Within the past week, two boys haven’t been able to practice because of coming down or being exposed with COVID-19. Johnson is utilizing Zoom to bring them into practice. They are expected to be back in time for the performances next week.
Johnson said the challenges facing the musical group have been “mindboggling” this year. “Every day you feel like you are sitting on a loaded powder keg,” she said.
“The kids are good at whatever we throw at them,” Johnson said. “They have been thrown a lot of curveballs, and they are handling them well.”
Despite the endless challenges this year has produced, Johnson still enjoys directing the play. “I love it. It has always been a passion of mine,” she said.