Fifty-nine Warren County students jumped at the chance to be transformed into a fairy tale character Dec. 16 and 17 during auditions for “Shrek the Musical,” with another six students interested in the pit orchestra, and eight wanting to work backstage.

The 13th WCSD All-County Musical drew interested young thespians from across the county, from county schools including Warren County Christian School.

“Shrek” follows the popular 2001 DreamWorks Animation movie, with added background on Shrek, Princess Fiona, and the villianous Lord Farquaad.

“Casting a show is probably the worst part of directing,” said “Shrek” director, Jen Koebley. “So many talented kids try out and you truly can only use a certain number. This show has a little wiggle room in a total cast number. There are several different ensemble musical numbers where you could add more people, or work with a smaller number if that is all you have to work with. We have officially cast 47 parts for on stage roles.”

Students were split into two groups based on audition number, the first group starting with a vocal auditionboth spoken and singingand then switching spots with the second group to go through a dance audition.

“During auditions the students are asked to sing by themselves, read different character parts from the show, and also learn and perform a small dance combination. As a director, it is never about the most talented students that audition,” Koebley said. “With a show full of such interesting characters, voices, accents, and quirky roles, I am looking for a certain sound, look, delivery, and stage presence for each individual role. It takes months to break down each character and know exactly what that particular part needs to do, sound like, look like, move like, and sing like to become that character. I have to go into auditions ready to find those qualities in the students auditioning.”

Youngsville High School junior Ben Holcomb won the title role of the cantankerous ogre, while Warren Area High School senior Bailey Dilks will play the cursed Princess Fiona. WAHS sophomore Sarah Roney rounds out the heroic trio as the wisecracking Donkey. Lord Farquaad-the ruler of Dulac who’s stature is in “short supply”-will be brought to life by Eisenhower senior Jacob McCool.

“I am really excited about the cast. There are some amazingly talented students in this county. We are happy to say that every school in the district will be represented in this year’s show,” Koebley said.

As with 2007’s “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” there’s a large amount of pressure on the production team, cast, and crews to get “Shrek the Musical” just right.

“When you choose to present a musical that has such well known characters as this show, there is a little more pressure to get it just right,” Koebley said. “You can’t mess with what Shrek looks or sounds like. Audiences come to see the Shrek they know. If I were to cast a student that doesn’t look the part or can’t sound like Shrek and then dress him however we want and not make him green. You just haven’t done your job as a director then.”

The All-County Musical gives students the chance to be involved in a massive production.

“One of the best things we have going for us here in Warren County is the ability to perform in a facility like Struthers Library Theatre,” Koebley said. “There is a totally different feeling to the whole performance when you can perform in a professional setting such as that. Any school can put on a cute musical on a high school stage. Our production team prides ourselves on doing more than that. We try to create as close to a professional like production in all ways possible. We often rent professional costumes, and enlist the help of an amazing team of costumers from the theater.

“The adults that work on the show behind the scenes designing, creating, constructing, and painting the sets are not only talented, but professionals in that field. Although we encourage students to work on different areas of the production, we want to have these areas to be lead by the best adult volunteers this town has to offer and we are always thrilled to have these people willing to help out,” said Koebley.

But the on-stage experience isn’t the only thing students get from the show.

“Each time we start a new All-County it begins the same. Students are sitting with only their own grade level kids from their own school. It doesn’t take long at all before they are one big group where we can’t tell who is from what school and who is in what class. By the end of the show kids are going to each other’s proms, hanging out together, and often commenting on how much fun it is to work together instead of always against each other,” said Koebley.

Rounding out the cast are:

Mama Ogre- Brionna Childs, 10, WAHS; Papa Ogre- Max Sobina, 9, WAHS; King Harold- Ryan McGuinness, 10, WAHS; Queen Lillian- Haley Tuller, 10, WAHS; Sugar Plum Fairy/Gingy- Abby Koebley, 10, WAHS; Pinocchio- Ian Laih, 12, WAHS; Big Bad Wolf- Quincy Nolan, 12, WAHS; Three Little Pigs #1- Mayan Cook, 10, WAHS; Three Little Pigs #2- Elijah Rutenber, 9, WAHS; Three Little Pigs #3- Connor Rosborough, 9, WAHS; White Rabbit- Robert Main, 9, WAHS; Fairy Godmother- Sarah Camp, 10, YHS; Peter Pan- Michal Shingler, 9, WAHS; Wicked Witch- Lilya Renner, 12, WAHS; Ugly Duckling- Kelsey Fadale, 9, WAHS; Mama Bear- Abby Waterman, 9, WAHS, Papa Bear- Fletcher Blumquist, 9, WAHS; Baby Bear- Harlee Johnson, 12, WAHS; Mad Hatter- Christian Olson, 12, WAHS; Humpty Dumpty- Emily Koebley, 9, WAHS; Elf- Brittany Arp, 10, EHS; Dragon- Olivia Thompson, 12, WAHS; Captain- Gabe Yucha, 9, WAHS; Thelonius- Sammy Sherrard, 12, WAHS; 3 Blind Mice #1- Maria Miller, 12, WAHS; Three Blind Mice #2- Maribeth Miller, 9, WAHS; Three Blind Mice #3- Megan Moore, 11, WAHS; Guard #1- Tyler Haslett, 11, WAHS; Female Ensemble- Leah McCluskey, 10, YHS; Emmi Beuger, 12, WAHS; Haley Nelson, 10, WAHS; Hannah Thomas, 9, WAHS; Phoebe Nelson, 12, WAHS; Whitney Poindexter, 12, WCCS; Lexi Gee, 12, WAHS; Taylor John, 11, WAHS; Trinity Pojar, 9, WAHS; Alex Dolinger, 10, WAHS; Naomi Haight, 9, EHS; Carmen Pearce, 9, Home School; Rachael Cecco, 10, WAHS; Morgan Lemmon, 10, WAHS.

“Shrek the Musical” runs March 19, 21, 22 at the Struthers Library Theater.