Hammonton High School tried to put on the musical Shrek in 2020. Unfortunately, COVID-19 shut down the musical, with many students having to wait for their chance on stage to play their favorite characters. Now, two years later, Shrek The Musical has finally arrived. Marissa Carrafiello, the show’s director, gave some insight into the show.
“We had done this show in 2020, and we got through the whole process, and literally three hours before the curtain went up opening night, we got the call that we had to shut it down. It was the day the governor made the announcement that the limit was 250 in a room. So the kids went through all three months of rehearsal, we did three nights of dress rehearsal with the professional orchestra, and everything … three hours before the kids had to report, they shut us down. It just so happened that we couldn’t do a show last year, so our Shrek, our Lord Farquad, they were sophomores … they’re seniors now so I figured I still have the set, I still have the costumes, the kids were excited to finally get to put it in front of an audience, and because we did everything last time up until the show night, I still had to pay the orchestra, still had to pay the soundcheck for the microphone, so we had very little budget. It just made sense to do the show because we already have the costumes, the set, and everything,” Carrafiello said.
With all of the sets and costumes still available for the students to use, it was an easy choice to pick Shrek The Musical for the spring. While it may have been an easy choice, hard work and preparation are always needed, Carrafiello said.
“Preparing for this is a ton of work, we are here every day. We started the day we got back from winter break, January 3, we’re here every day after school until five o’clock, and then on the weekends, we’re here on Saturdays from 9 to 3. It’s a lot of rehearsal time, we have dance rehearsal days, and then staging, and music rehearsal days … it’s a huge amount of preparation,” Carrafiello said.
Carrafiello is excited to see how the students perform, considering they haven’t stepped foot on a stage in over two years.
“I can’t even tell you how excited I am to be able to be back on stage, and giving these kids the opportunity to finally perform, it’s been two years. When I was in high school … being in the musical was probably my fondest memories, and these kids lost a whole year of that. The heartbreak of not actually getting to perform that show in front of an audience two years ago, I’m so looking forward to seeing these kids shine … it’s really cool to see these kids go from day one on January 3 to where we are now,” Carrafiello said.
The musical allows for students to showcase their talent, which had been on hold for the last few years. Now with the same sets and costumes from 2020, students can finally get back to some normalcy.
“It is at the Hammonton High School Performing Arts Center, and it is March 31, April 1 and April 2, and all the shows start at 7 p.m… There is a website that they can purchase the tickets from … if they want to buy their tickets ahead of time, or they can purchase them right at the door. It is reserved seating; tickets are $15,” Carrafiello said.
For purchasing tickets ahead of time, go to bluedevils.booktix.com.
Below is the Shrek The Musical cast list. Fiona - Hannah LaSasso; Shrek - Drew Gollihur; Donkey - Brielle Palermo; Lord Farquaad - Vinny DiGianivittorio; Dragon/Little Red Riding Hood - Anahi Boone; Young Shrek/Grumpy Dwarf - Carter Gollihur; Queen Lillian/Young Fiona/Sleeping Beauty - Gabriella Wyers; Teen Fiona/Cinderella - Ava Santiago; Gingy/Mama Ogre/Snow White - Angel DiGianivittorio; Pinnocchio - Logan Brown; Big Bad Wolf - Cole Herrmann; King Harold/Pied Piper- JR Edel; Duloc Greeter - Thomas Santiago; White Rabbit - Sophia Midure; Fairy Godmother - Quinn Bonnan; Peter Pan - Jen Nunez; Wicked Witch - Sophia Campanella; Sugar Plum Fairy - Juliana Citrone; Ugly Duckling - Mary Elton; Papa Bear - Lawrence Baylock; Baby Bear - Mia Donio; Mama Bear - Katherine Julia; Papa Ogre- Kevin Haley; Captain of the Guard/Bishop - Thomas Librizzi; Queen of Hearts - Shirley Chavez; Humpty Dumpty - Bennett Palermo-Williford; Mother Goose - Kaylah Rinker-Wister; Alice in Wonderland - Audra Schiavo; Mad Hatter - Hannah Santora; 3 Pigs - Thomas Santiago, Kevin Haley, JR Edel; 3 Blind Mice - Sophia Campanella, Audra Schiavo, Angel DiGianivittorio; Rats - Grace Gribbin, Gabriella Wyers, Megan Long; Defeated Knights - Thomas Santiago, Grayson Gollihur, Kevin Haley, JR Edel, Thomas Librizzi; Duloc Dancers - Gabriella Wyers, Sophia Midure, Quinn Bonnan, Audra Schiavo, Katherine Julia, Sophia Campanella, Mary Elton, Grace Gribbin, Megan Long, Jen Nunez; Knights - Giovanni Mendez, Grayson Gollihur, Lawrence Baylock, Sawyer Brown, Cole Herrmann, JR Edel, Thomas Santiago, Bennett; Palermo-Williford, Kevin Haley, Thomas Librizzi.