A crew member walks into the auditorium at MCHS for rehearsals. Since he is playing a main role, he has a lot of work cut out for him. But with production going smoothly and efficiently so far, he remains very optimistic and excited to perform on stage this spring, showing audiences what “Shrek: The Musical” is all about.

This year, MCHS’s theater department will be putting on the production of ““Shrek: The Musical” Many students are excited for the production, because as of this year, there has been a noticeably larger number of cast and crew members. Preparation for the show is going efficiently and well so far, all with the help of the teachers and students involved. 

“Preparation so far is fast and productive,” said Derek Galvicius, the MCHS choir director. “I’ve got everyone showing up and attendance is going well. People are going home and practicing.”

“Students so far are very eager to showcase Shrek,” with many roles to fill in order to make production possible. One part of preparation is the physical building of the set. 

“We’ve had three set building days on Saturday mornings,” said Galvicius. “It usually takes between five and seven weeks to get a full set built, but this time, we got it done in three weeks. So, it’s going really well.”

Even though it’s only the beginning of February, due to the efforts of the theater department, preparation and production is going along extremely efficiently, considering performances don’t start until this Spring. 

“I think everyone’s just excited to put this on stage.” said Kadin Henige, MCHS senior and the role of Donkey in the musical. 

“We’re almost done with the process, and that’ll just leave getting ready for the performance,” said Henige.

Many MCHS students are able to think back to when they went on field trips to see these productions put on by students, some aspiring to be like the kids who either act on stage or make everything happen behind the scenes. 

“We’ve also had a lot of the middle and elementary schools ask for private showings, because they just want to see how high school arts work,” said Galvicius.

On the note of the students who make the plays happen, many come and go as the years go on and a variety of students are able to take the opportunities to take on leadership roles, whether it be on stage or back stage. 

“We always notice the seniors that left the year before, and then we notice who’s stepped up to fill those main roles,” said Galvicius. 

The theater department offers many opportunities to students, allowing them to fill all kinds of roles. This is what gives theater its variety. 

Expectations for this year’s musical are high, with a lot of popularity toward these kinds of productions every year. 

“Usually when we’re doing shows like this, they sell out of every show. We’re hoping for that again this year,” said Galvicius.

Overall, the beginning preparations for “Shrek: The Musical” are going great. This simply goes to show the passion that students have toward putting on what will be an amazing show.