BWW Reviews: Renaissance Players' SHREK THE MUSICAL

There's much to love about community theater: the camaraderie of the people creating onstage magic, the infectious enthusiasm of the cast and crew, the sheer joy everyone in the theater shares when a show opens to the public. Community theater gives creative people a chance to shine and to show off their talents even while working day jobs in a factory, a law office or a gift shop...or anywhere else hard-working Americans are plying their trade while paying their bills.

In a city like Nashville - aka Music City USA - you're likely to find that community theater is akin to some professional productions (the talent pool often overlaps, so that the lines between amateur and professional are artfully blurred, if not non-existent from an artistic standpoint)...in these environs, where creativity blooms so abundantly, the guy singing the 11 o'clock number in the show is actually a budding songwriter, the woman dancing her heart out in the chorus line has a degree from a prestigious university dance program, or if it's summer, the ensemble may be filled with talented college students back home for a few months with the parents.

All of which brings us to the latest offering from The Renaissance Players, a community theater group which performs at The Renaissance Center - now known as Freed Hardeman University's Dickson campus - and which has a much-appreciated history of presenting entertaining productions featuring some of the region's most talented performers. The company is back onstage for its summer offering of Shrek the Musical, the Jeanine Tesori-David Lindsay Abaire stage musical based upon the delightful animated film that first introduced us to the green ogre Shrek, his lady love Fiona, the unctuous Lord Farquaad and a feisty, straight-talking donkey named, curiously enough, Donkey.

Directed by Kate Adams (who previously directed the show at Morristown's Encore Theatrical Company last summer), the Renaissance Players' production features a cast made up of newcomers and RP veterans who obviously love what they're doing and who deliver the goods for loyal audiences. Adams' cast is impressive in its wide ranging capabilities and an earnestness that pervades the production to good advantage.

Alaina Deaver's choreography adds a sense of fun and lightness to the proceedings, as the ensemble of supporting characters - everyone's along for the ride, including the Three Little Pigs, Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood and most every other fairytale character you can think of - aspire to stardom while waving their freak flags high!

Nick Fair, cast as Donkey, very nearly steals the show from the rest of the principals thanks to his focus and energy. With a theatrical resume that anyone would covet, Fair has the experience necessary to create an original portrayal of a much-loved character.

As the ridiculously vapid Lord Farquaad, Jarrod Clark gives a completely winning performance that is wonderfully understated despite the broad connotations of the character that is written into the script: Clark's strong voice lends further credibility to his portrayal, while his nuanced way with a line serves to make his character all the more appealing despite his arrogant ways.

Fair and Clark are joined onstage by Troy Sands in the title role of Shrek, with Mary Hutchens as the appealing Fiona. Sands, perhaps too tentative in his approach to his character in the play's initial moments, seems to find his footing as the story plays out onstage and his relationship with Fiona deepens. Charming and pretty, Hutchens creates a Fiona - effectively played in her younger years by Maddie Mollenhour and Alyssa Runyeon - who's highly watchable even while she engages in a farting contest with the hulking green ogre.

• Shrek the Musical. Book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Music by Jeanine Tesori. Directed by Kate Adams. Choreographed by Alaina Deaver. Presented by The Renaissance Players, Dickson. Through June 28. For more info, go to www.renplayers.com. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (with a 15-minute intermission).

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