Musical Directing

Shrek the Musical

Triway High School, Wooster, OH

In the fall of 2023, I was the artistic director at Triway High School for their production of Shrek the Musical. This production involved 35 students from the high school and middle school, 6 staff members, and numerous parent and community volunteers. Together with the music director/choir director, we:

• chose and acquired rights for the show

• planned for auditions, rehearsals, and performances

• recruited students for cast and crew

• organized parent committees for costumes, makeup/hair, cast party, etc.

• created a full detailed schedule for each cast member

• sourced costumes, props, and set pieces from local theater organizations

• rehearsed blocking, music, and choreography

We also collaborated with the middle and high school art teachers and involved art club students to paint the set pieces (built by the middle school industrial art teacher and the high school band director) and create custom props.

Compared to the previous musical at the high school, we not only increased student involvement, but we saw a significant increase in revenue due to a large audience at each performance (150-250 each night). We believe this was due in part to an increased effort towards advertising; we printed 30 posters to hang up at local businesses and schools.