Previews: SHREK THE MUSICAL at Maxim Teatern

This year marks 15 years since I was in New York and saw my first musical on Broadway, Shrek the Musical, a fantastic family musical. On January 5, 2025, it premieres at the classic Maxim Theater and it is the first musical to be staged there after the renovation of the theater. The musical Shrek is based on the film from Dreamworks about the outcast swamp troll Shrek who, together with his gun-bearer Donkey, must rescue Princess Fiona, a princess who turns out to be tougher than many Disney princesses. If you have seen the film, you will recognize the plot and many of the fantastic characters that are involved.

Rehearsals for the premiere are in full swing in Hässelby, but one day they rehearsed at Maxim Teatern to familiarize themselves with the stage and I had the privilege of being there. It was felt in the air that the entire ensemble of 25 people and the Production Team from West End Stockholm (WES) were tagged to play at Maxim. A converted Maxim that now takes 366 people on the parquet floor and 90 on the balcony where you can also eat and drink if you want. Newly installed sound and lighting technology. In the performance, they will have 24 wireless microphones so important with good technical conditions. It's really fun that it's a family musical that will be the first big production to be staged at the new Maxim to play for two months.

The musical begins with you getting to meet Shrek and Fiona as children and then being transported back in time to when they are adults. Shrek and Fiona are played by three teams of children and everyone got to play their part in the different scenes during the rehearsal and I was really impressed by all of them. The large ensemble makes it possible to create great dance numbers and even if at the rehearsal they tested placements and didn't take out the dance steps completely, it was clear that when you add costumes and scenography, this will be a colorful, lovely family musical. 

Carin Juborg, choreographer and plays the Wicked Witch, said that it has been a fun and exciting challenge to work with such a large ensemble and varying musical styles. It has also been special to choreograph a Dragon and get how the dragon's tail should move. Carin promises that there will be everything from classic grand Broadway numbers to tap dancing in the show. How wonderful doesn't that sound?

Maja Malm, who plays Fiona, is also the make-up/Costume Designer and scenographer in the show. A total of 120 costumes are included and some have been able to be re-sewn and reused from POFF's production of Shrek in 2020, where Maja also played the role of Fiona. In this set, Maja has worked with a color scale where it is a little more brown at the beginning and the villagers also wear brown, but then when the fairytale characters appear, it becomes colorful. In terms of scenography, they work to bring out the feeling of a fairy tale without using advanced technology.

The most challenging mask and costume obviously has Shrek and putting on the mask takes a couple of hours. The costume is made in such a way that it will enhance Shrek's stiff movements. Mathias Terwander Stintzing, who plays Shrek, says that the mask adheres well, that it is fine to breathe in it, but what is most affected is the hearing. When he puts on the mask and costume, he feels like Shrek.

Maja, who has played Fiona before, thinks it's a great role to play and is very happy to do it again. Fiona is on the surface a classic princess, but she can also speak her mind and get angry. She thinks she is a more modern version of a princess.

Mathias has also worked with Shrek the Musical before when parts of it were included in his spring show at the music theater school in Bjärnum in 2010. Mathias is very happy to now have the opportunity to play Shrek in its entirety. He thinks Shrek is an important character and that many, both children and adults, can relate to the insecurity and alienation Shrek feels. You may have been scolded at school and felt less worthy. To be different and not quite fit in.

The story of Shrek has some dark elements but it is lightened by a number of slightly comical characters such as eg Donkey (played by Benjamin Vagnhammar Sundström) and as in all fairy tales, it ends well. The music is happy and uplifting. The final number is about being allowed to be who you are and the WES team hopes that the audience will leave Maxim happy, hopeful, uplifted, and empowered in the feeling of being allowed to be who I am - with its strong creative team, a committed ensemble with an energy that is contagious they have all the conditions to succeed in doing so.

I'm really looking forward to getting the premiere on January 5th!

Photo Josephine Thunell and Annette Stolt (rehearsal photo)

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