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It won鈥檛 be the same version you experienced when brought 鈥淪hrek the Musical鈥� to Centennial Hall in March 2024. This show runs about 90 minutes with an intermission, compared to the Broadway version that ran about 2陆 hours with one intermission.

鈥淭he story is not any different. There鈥檚 like one or two songs that have been taken out of this version to help shorten it down, but all of the favorite songs are there,鈥� said Saguaro City Artistic Director Drew Humphrey, who is directing the production. 鈥淭he big difference is that we have 61 kids in our production.鈥�

The kids are campers in Saguaro City鈥檚 popular Studio Arts Presents summer program, which focuses on learning, rehearsing and performing professional live musical theater.

Rehearsals were held the first two weeks at Pima Community College West Campus, where PCC students worked with the kids. This week, rehearsals moved to Berger Performing Arts Center, where performances will be held June 27-29.

Several of the kids were cast in supporting roles, including as Lord Farquaad (AJ Barrios), and the teen (Abigail Barrett) and young (Lucy Cable) Fiona.

They join a professional cast of 11 that includes freshly minted University of 蜜聊直播 musical theater BFA grads Meghan Gray as Fiona and Brennan Wood as Shrek, and musical theater junior Dariya Smith as Shrek鈥檚 sassy sidekick Donkey; and Jazmine Gomez, Samantha Adams, Marcel Aza, Harrison Dodge, Ally Frieders, Lily Grubert, Lance Jacobson and Haiden Pederson in the featured ensemble.

The stage version of 鈥淪hrek鈥� follows the same story as the 2001 animated film: Shrek is an ogre living his perfect swamp life when his solitude is suddenly invaded by fairytale creatures banished from the city-state of Duloc by its nasty dictator, Lord Farquaad. Farquaad cuts a deal with Shrek: the creatures can leave the swamp once Shrek brings him the beautiful Princess Fiona from the kingdom of Far Far Away to be his bride. But Fiona has a secret: once the sun goes down, her beauty fades and she becomes an ogre like Shrek.

鈥淭he core of this show is acceptance and finding full, unfiltered love with just who you are, and I think that finding love with yourself, being maybe not as physically appealing as society might want you to be, is a really beautiful thing,鈥� said Gray, who played young Fiona with a youth theater company in her native Atlanta, Georgia, when she was 12 years old.

Wood had to train his voice to go much lower than his normal high tenor to pull off Shrek鈥檚 gruff nature.

鈥淚 really want to dig into the things that make Shrek Shrek like his grumpiness and the fact that he is trying to convince everyone that he is better off alone and he鈥檚 selfish, and all those things,鈥� said the northern Virginia native, who has a job lined up with Norwegian Cruises in the fall and plans to pursue acting in New York City early next year.

鈥淭he way the story is told and how he really grows throughout the piece, I like to bring my own comedic bits to it,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淚 want to see the ways in which I can add in him being goofy, or him being really caring and friendly and stuff like that because it鈥檚 something that he grows into throughout the course of the show.鈥�

Gray said playing Fiona with Saguaro City is a full-circle moment for her with the character, and it鈥檚 the first stop of what is turning out to be her 鈥淪hrek鈥� summer.

鈥淚鈥檓 actually headed home after this production to go direct a production of 鈥楽hrek Jr.鈥� back in Atlanta, so I鈥檓 getting a whole summer of 鈥楽hrek鈥�,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 just a story and a musical that I鈥檝e grown up with and been in love with the music since I was really young, and it鈥檚 so exciting to get to do this again and approach the show again at this point in my life.鈥�

Saguaro City will perform the musical at 2 p.m. Friday, June 27; and at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 28 and 29. Tickets are $17-$32.50 through ; children 17 and younger get in free with a paid adult.

In October, Saguaro City will mount the classic musical 鈥淢y Fair Lady鈥� and in December will do 鈥淎nnie.鈥� Details at .