Chip Smith, Gilpin County. Perhaps one reason you should bring your entire family as well as your friends to the performance of Shrek the Musical, is the opportunity to hear some of Gilpin and Boulder County’s  finest musicians. Six professional musicians have assembled and will be part of the pit orchestra for the musical. 

The Peak To Peak Players Musical Director/Conductor is Patrice LeBlanc. Patrice is an accomplished teacher, performer, author, and composer who also serves as the principal keyboardist  for the production. Joining her on guitar is Jon Ridnell and on bass will be Miles Ridnell. Black Dog and Miles are two of Nederland’s finest and accomplished professional players. Supplying woodwinds in Gilpin School Director of Music is Misty Ebers.  She holds a Masters in Oboe Performance. Alan Martin is a professional drummer and former music teacher. He operates Music Work Custom Batons in Central City. Adding the second keyboard is Donna Harler- Smith, a Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Donna has accompanied dozens of musicals as well as operatic and oratorio scores. 

The animated movie Shrek premiered in 2001. The story is based on the 1990 fairy tale picture book by William Steig.  Schreck in German means fright or terror. Now generations of kids know that is not quite the case. Shrek the Musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire ran on Broadway for a total of 441 performances. 

The Peak to Peak Players will perform the musical at the Gilpin County School on July 26 and 27 at 7 p.m., July 28 at 2 p.m., and August 2 and 3 at 7 p.m. Ticket prices are $12 for adults and $8 for students. 

Join the cast and crew for a journey to the Kingdom  of Duloc. Meet Shrek, Donkey, the Princess Fiona, and all the other fairytales creatures for a wonderful family summer treat.

Advance tickets may be ordered at peaktopeakplayers.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the door. 

Originally published in the July 11, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear. You can buy a low resolution, downloadable pdf of this paper at https://themtnear.com/product/2019-07-11/