Shrek: The Musical soared into Wenatchee High School; songs, onions, ogres and all.

There were between 6,500 and 7,000 people who came to the show according to producer Selena Danko. Danko is one of three producers involved with the musical. A sold out show is 7,000 people.

The play ran seven times, with shows Nov. 14-16 and Nov. 22-23. The money brought in from Shrek will go to the theatre department at Wenatchee High School.

“All of this work really takes a village. We had 90 plus kids and I think every kid had at least one parent that contributed. Without all the support, the play wouldn’t have been what it was. We didn’t hold anything back,” Danko said.

The play revolved around Shrek, an ogre played by Performing Arts Center Executive Director Matt Cadman. He found himself in an unlikely friendship with Donkey, played by senior Drew Jaeger. The two go on a whirlwind adventure to find Princess Fiona, who has been locked in a tower since she was seven years old.

“Drew is nailing [the part of Donkey],” sophomore Casey Garrison said. “I’m really impressed with how he manipulates his character and self to fit roles. I mean, he went from a dark, gothic Phantom [from last year’s high school play of Phantom of The Opera] to funny Donkey. It’s really impressive.”

According to other students in the play, juniors Maddy Atwood, Alex Stroming, and Josey Meats were also notable performers. Stroming and Atwood were double cast as Princess Fiona. One Fiona would play ogre Fiona and the other would play human Fiona, until the last scene when the human Fiona became an ogre for good.

During the last dress rehearsal, Atwood accidentally fell off the stage. “Many things were happening. Shrek and I were moving fast trying to catch up in the music. One of my heels got caught in a step at the same time my other foot missed a step, and while stepping on the ground I lost my balance so I fell, but I got back up and kept going,” Atwood said. Her fall resulted in the addition of glow-in- the-dark tape to the edges of the stage. Atwood bounced back from the fall, and continued rehearsing.

Meats played Lord Farquaad, a short man with a big ego. He spent much of the play on his knees and fake legs attached to his thighs to appear shorter. “Climbing stuff with false legs is hard,” Meats said. “There’s this one part where I have to climb stairs and then I sometimes have to crawl on stuff,” he said.