Opening night is July 18, but before that, the students shared their reflections on how the performing arts have helped them find community at school — and just like ogres and onions, they have layers.
Finnegan Griffith, left, as Lord Farquaad, and Finn Alexander, right, as Shrek. Both credit theater as a place where they can be themselves.
Alexander, 18, is playing the lovable ogre. He’s one of 250 Austin ISD students from 43 campuses who have spent their summer building sets, learning lines, and in his case, perfecting a Scottish accent, as part of Austin ISD’s Summer Theatre Series. This is Alexander’s seventh and final summer participating in the program.
Brad Distelhorst, the Performing Arts Center coordinator, said the goal of the program is to give students a professional-level experience with theater. “That really motivated me to do a lot more this year and work a lot harder to try and prove that I do deserve that title,” she said. “I love that kind of feeling of acceptance that you get from your cast, that you get from your crew and that feeling of everybody working together towards a common goal,” he said.“I don’t think I would be anywhere near the same human being I am now if I wasn’t in theater, if we didn’t have those programs, those places I could go and express myself,” he said.
Baird said elementary school was the perfect time to be exposed to musical theater because there’s “no social pressure to be something you’re not.” Making a fool of yourself on a stage just isn’t that big of a deal when you’re a little kid but that changes as you get older. “With Shrek, you’ve got a lot more things to think about, I think, because it's not really all the way Scottish,” he said. “It’s kind of this weird blend of Scottish, Irish and Welsh.”
“So, he’s just been really comedic and I also just love comedy roles,” he said. “I did a lot of those at McCallum and just roles where you lose your mind on stage and I think it’s kind of fun.”“I’m actually so glad they put me in Farquaad. Donkey has the obvious funny, but Farquaad has the backhanded, you have to think about it for a second for it to be funny,” he said.
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