ORANGE CITY, Iowa | What does a love-struck ogre and a talking donkey have to do with tulips?
Plenty, since "Shrek: The Musical" is being presented as the Night Show musical for the 77th Tulip Festival.
The show -- based upon William Steig's 1990 book, the 2001 animated film as well as the 2008 Broadway musical -- will be performed at 8 p.m. May 17 - 20 at the Unity Christian Knight Center, 216 Michigan Ave. S.W.
A part of the festival since 1950, the Night Show has become one of the most cherished annual events.
However, choosing a relatively recent show over something seminal was a risk, according to co-director Todd McDonald.
"I've directed 'Finian's Rainbow' and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' as past Night Shows," the MOC-Floyd Valley speech and theater teacher said. "But when my family saw 'Shrek' on Broadway, we knew it would make for a great Night Show."
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McDonald's co-director Gail Marincovich agreed.
"First of all, everybody loved the movie," Marincovich, herself a retired MOC-Floyd Valley teacher, noted. "But once we got into the script, we realized the music is much more complex than we thought."
Plus there were all of the elaborate costumes that "Shrek' demanded.
"Some were purchased, some were borrowed from other productions of 'Shrek' and others were sewn especially for this production," Marincovich said.
And when special effects and special costuming needs weren't available, McDonald said the production had to simply do without.
"There will be times when the audience will have to use their imagination," he admitted.
Which is actually OK, according to Marincovich, since Night Show audiences tend to be forgiving.
"Our cast and crew is made up of volunteers," she said. "Our youngest actor is in the fifth grade while our oldest actors are probably in their 60s."
"It's a labor of love for many of us," Marincovich continued, "and I think that comes to through to our audience."
As the production date nears, McDonald said the cast is beginning to jell.
"Everyone wants to do a good job," he said. "It's important to them."
Working with the school-aged cast members is especially fulfilling for Marincovich, who had previously director high school musicals.
"Audiences think acting in musicals is going to be broad," she said. "My actors, on the other hand, are being taught to look to the subtlety of the scene."
This was the approach Marincovich took when she made her own debut as a fifth grader in the community theater production of "The Music Man."
And that's the approach she takes while directing actors in "Shrek's" pivotal "Freak Flag" production number.
"The cast totally nailed that song," Marincovich said, the day after a rehearsal. "No matter who we are, we still have a little freak in us. The cast caught the subtlety right away."
Like his co-director, McDonald is also keen on keeping "Shrek's" subtler moments.
"We know this isn't going to be a Broadway-level production of 'Shrek' but it doesn't have to be," he said. "We want to make this 'Shrek' uniquely our own."
