REVIEW: Shrek the Musical Jr. - Stage School Australia

Shrek the Musical JR

Presented by: Stage School Australia

Book and Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire

Music: Jeanine Tesori

Date Attended: 1 October 2026

Director: Georgia New

Musical Director: Lucy Ross

Choreographers: Grayson McBurney and Caity Bond

Assistant Musical Director: Lauren Bull

Costume Supervisor: Morgan McAleer

Sound Operator: Derek Wilson

Lighting Operator: Sev Harman

Photography: By B'rit Creative

"Do you know the muffin man...?"

I have now seen Shrek the Musical enough times that I should probably be paying council rates in Duloc. Thankfully, Stage School Australia’s Shrek the Musical JR gives me a new cast of young performers to cheer for, wrapped up in a fast, colourful school holiday production.

This is Stage School Australia’s third full-scale Brisbane production (and the third I’ve seen). Directed by Georgia New, the show flies by! It packs a lot of story, music, costumes, and fairytale creatures into its shortened junior runtime. Although I do quietly mourn a few of my favourite songs that have been sacrificed along the way…

Harrison Slater plays a sweeter, gentler Shrek than many I’ve seen. I also love the decision to use green face paint rather than covering him with a heavy mask, leaving Harrison’s expressions visible throughout. His enunciation is excellent, and I applaud his attempt at the Scottish accent. Shrek doesn’t actually get a huge amount of solo singing in the junior version, but Harrison opens strongly with “Big Bright Beautiful World”. Also, shoutout for spending the better part of a week painted green. Theatre is so glamorous!

Neil Marco II Aballe is an adorable Donkey, tackling one of the wordiest roles in the show and the sheer quantity of memorised dialogue valiantly. His enunciation stays strong through all that chatter, too. “Travel Song” captures the pair’s growing friendship (and the experience of being trapped on a road trip with someone who will not stop talking), while “Make a Move” lets Neil lead the company with full gospel-choir enthusiasm. The duet between Shrek and Fiona, “I Think I Got You Beat”, remains a thing of beauty (romance via competitive childhood trauma and bodily noises). What a courtship ritual!

Esperanza Falconi has fun with Fiona’s two settings: pristine storybook princess and ball of aggression. One moment she’s all poised smile and perfect princess manners, and the next she’s ditched the whole facade because Fiona’s impatience or competitive streak has won. Essie carries that same split into her singing. “Morning Person” sits in a pretty, bright head voice, while the unhinged bridge of “I Know It’s Today” (“the waiting, the waiting…!”) lets her unleash a crazed belt. Across both, she has such a strong, assured musical theatre voice, and I really hope this is a path she keeps pursuing. Alongside Indiana Osborne and Chelsea Carman as Young and Teen Fiona, the three voices blend beautifully once the harmonies start stacking together in “I Know It’s Today”.

Lucie Roy gets another of the production’s biggest vocal moments as Dragon in “Forever” amid enormous castle gates, glittering knights, and huge dragon wings. Excellent. More is more. I’d love to see gloves added to complete Roy’s Dragon costume and disguise the mechanics of manoeuvring the wings a little more, but the overall effect is suitably grand.

Duloc is colourful and mildly terrifying, populated by cloned children maintaining the strained smiles (mostly) through “Welcome to Duloc”. The synchronised choreography is wonderfully rigid and cheerful. A few of the kids occasionally dissociate instead of grinning, which I assume is what happens after several days of rehearsals, performances, and being ordered to smile like a tiny citizen of a fascist theme park. Oskar Stam’s entire Lord Farquaad situation deserves appreciation, from the costume and physical comedy to the small matter of spending virtually the entire week performing on his knees. My knees hurt simply thinking about it!

The costumes have plenty to look at, from the detailing on Fiona’s dress and wig to the endless parade of fairytale creature looks. “Story of My Life”, led by Eliza Cullerton as Pinocchio, gives those characters their first chance to spill across the stage together, each with their own personality. Eliza later transforms into the Pied Piper and leads a troupe of tap-dancing rats! “Freak Flag” brings the whole collection of oddballs together. Shoutout to Mina Brailov as Mama Bear and Gracie Ollerenshaw as the Wicked Witch in their lovely featured vocal moments. With such a large company, performers are continually rotated through the musical numbers rather than disappearing into the background for half the show. Grayson McBurney and Caity Bond’s choreography helps with that too, keeping the ensemble busy rather than letting every number dissolve into the same lines and formations.

The spoken comedy doesn’t always receive the laughs it’s reaching for, and the accents occasionally take an international holiday between Scotland, America, and Australia. The leads’ clear dialogue helps enormously, particularly given how quickly this version races along and how little time the cast has to learn it.

One detail I particularly enjoy is that the experience doesn’t begin and end with the curtain. Characters mingle with audiences before and after the show, with plenty of photo opportunities for kids. School holiday productions like this give young performers a concentrated taste of putting on a full musical: learning choreography, managing costume changes, developing characters, singing as an ensemble, and facing a live audience after an intense rehearsal period.

And after all that, everyone still has enough left in the tank for an encore of “I’m a Believer!" Stage School Australia’s Shrek the Musical JR is bright, busy, and fuelled by a young company throwing themselves wholeheartedly into the swamp.