WHEN the Hunter School of the Performing Arts chose the popular Shrek The Musical JR a year ago as its 2020 primary school musical, it didn't foresee any problems in staging the show.
But, just a few days after auditions for the musical were held in March and two alternating casts were chosen, the outbreak of the coronavirus and the subsequent government restrictions made it unlikely that the show would proceed.
However, with 171 years 3 to 6 students aged 8 to 13 in two casts of the show, the teaching staff decided in May to put the production online.
And, now that the restrictions have eased, with half the seats in theatres allowed to be occupied, the live performances will be presented on the original dates - October 20 to 23 - in conjunction with the livestreaming shows, where viewers can watch the play via Zoom.
Seeing the show live in the school's Hunter Theatre will be restricted to parents at evening sessions and HSPA students.
However, the show's director and deputy principal of the primary school, Karen O'Neill, said every effort has been put into the streaming presentation to make it engaging for the Zoom viewers.
Six cameras will be placed throughout the theatre, with all of them operated by one student, with another student mixing the images during the show.
Ms O'Neill noted that a lighting table has been set up in the auditorium, with the lighting mixed by the theatre's manager, Jim Bowman, in a technology room at the rear of the theatre.
The teachers recorded the show's songs and sent them to the students early this year, so that they would be able to learn them remotely before rehearsals began.
Some of the songs also use recorded voices, as well as live ones.
Shrek: The Musical JR is a popular adaptation of the classic 2001 animated film and its subsequent Broadway theatre musical version, with a lot of colourful characters and settings in its 60-minute running time.
Shrek is a young male ogre who lives in a swamp with his demanding parents.
It includes many popular fairy tale characters, including Pinocchio, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs, the Wicked Witch, Peter Pan, the Ugly Duckling, and the Three Bears.
When Shrek decides at age seven to make his own way in the world, he encounters a screaming Donkey, the threatening Lord Farquaad, the feisty Princess Fiona, and a Dragon who guards a tower.
His interactions with each of these characters are very different.
The actors in the HSPA production have to handle Dragon puppets, and play characters that include forest birds and rats, soldiers, guards, knights, tree puppets, and an ensemble of sunflowers, with eye-catching costumes.
Ms O'Neill said the show is very different to ones the actors have previously been involved in, as they have had to get involved in the technology.
Joel Evans, 12, who is one of the Shreks, said it is very different to other shows he has been in, as it will be livestreamed as well as being a live show.
Zaya Saltoun, 12, one of the Fionas, says the show's technology is very different, with the actors not having to sing into microphones.
And Orlando Walshe, 11, a Donkey, said that being able to do the show, rather than see it cancelled, was rewarding.
The show will have performances daily from Tuesday to Friday at 12pm and 6.30pm.
The After Cast performs on Tuesday and Thursday, and the other, the Ever Cast, hits the stage on Wednesday and Friday.
Go to the school's theatre booking site for more info and bookings, or ring the school on 4952 3355.
THEATRE REVIEW
Almost, Maine at Hunter Drama's Actors Company, at the Civic Playhouse. Ended on Saturday.
AMERICAN playwright John Cariani grew up in Maine, a north-eastern US state that borders Canada, so it's not surprising that his comedy Almost, Maine is one that watchers around the world have found engaging.
The play is set in winter, with many residents and visitors going to Maine to observe the Winter Lights that shine down from the North Pole.
The play looks at the interactions between several pairs of people as they come together on the winter night, with large groups occasionally seeing their behaviour.
Director Allison Van Gaal, and her 15 actors aged 18 to 23, brought out the natures of the people, with some of them making references to people who have already been seen.
One of the actors, Bill Parry, wrote the catchy background music that was heard as people interacted in homes, streets or fields.
Jacob Harwood's lighting design also caught the changing nature of the weather, with snow occasionally falling on the people.
The director's set design, which had objects such as an outdoor bench moved to different places by some of the characters as they headed off elsewhere, also helped to create the environment changes.
When one of the women encountered her former partner who had gone off with another woman, she pulled out a bag and dropped its contents in front of him, saying her heart had broken into 19 pieces.
Another woman, upset by her treatment, hit a man with an ironing board.
