Last weekend the Cy Woods Theatre Company opened their show, Aladdin Jr and Shrek Jr; they did not disappoint. CWTC exceeded the expectations of excellence set by the eager members of the audience. Every song and dance was performed almost perfectly, with eye-catching choreography and attention-drawing voices. The script was well executed by all of the cast members throughout the show, and the actors all portrayed their roles very well.

In Aladdin Jr, Destin Moreno and Jadienne Reese both played their lead roles, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, wonderfully. They told the convincing forbidden love story between the beloved characters. Daniel Webb brought the creepy and scary characteristics that were demanded to play the role of Jafar. He embodied the character perfectly and gave Jafar a new life. Another amazing character was Iago, who was played by Christian Spears. Spears played the part of Jafar’s loyal servant with the sense of humor the character deserved. The audience enjoyed the presence of Iago the entire time he as on stage. While all of the actors did a fantastic job, my favorite character was the Genie, played by Jackson Reed. Reed completely embodied his character and allowed the audience to see an old, beloved childhood character come to life. Reed was humorous and had the perfect mix of self-assurance and cockiness that the Genie has always been portrayed with.

While Aladdin Jr was well executed and entertaining, Shrek Jr. appeared to be the crowd favorite. From Elaborate costumes to incredible power-house voices, the actors in Shrek Jr gained the hearts of everybody in the crowd. The Duloc Performers executed their choreography with no errors. Their costumes looked great and all of actors portrayed the characters very well; they were entertaining and had a strong stage presence. The family of ogres, played by Alison Wine, Eli Strauss and Marcus Gray, opened the show strongly. Their opening song set the scene for the show and gave the audience insight to the character Shrek’s life. Walter Rodenberger played the role as Shrek. He was gross, uncomfortable and flat out strange- which is just the characteristics the role called for. One song that really stood out was “I Know It’s Today,” performed by the three characters Young Fiona, Teen Fiona and Princess Fiona, played by CJ Friend, Susie Abbott and Rose Hayden. The three showed the audience the background of Fiona’s life through an entertaining song that proved the talent of the actress’s voices. Princess Fiona was played by Rose Hayden, who had a beautiful voice and shed a new light on the role. Hayden was a perfect fit for the role as Princess Fiona. She played the role with the perfect mix of both princess poise and ogre awkwardness that caused the audience to favor the lovable character. Another lovable character that was casted perfectly was the role of Donkey, played by Blessing Goredema. Goredema portrayed the role as Shrek’s friend/sidekick with the required humor and talent that was necessary for the character. The stand out power vocalist was Jessica Omokheyeke, who played the role of Dragon. Her solo vocals stood out to the audience as it was backed with the perfect amount of sass and confidence.

The costumes were all amazing and every character looked fantastic while on stage. The choreography was clean and accented the songs perfectly. With only a few very minor errors, the show was fascinating and resembled a very professional performance.  There was not a single dull moment during this show. Both the actors and the technical crew did an incredible job as they worked to deliver a very memorable show.