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In 2015, Cardboard Playhouse Theatre Company performed the Broadway musical 鈥淪hrek the Musical Jr.,鈥� based on the Academy Award-winning movie 鈥淪hrek,鈥� for the first time in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.

The production was in commemoration of the theater company鈥檚 ninth year.

In celebration of its 19th season, the company will present the musical at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2; 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3; and Sunday, Aug. 4, with repeats Aug. 9 through Aug. 11, at the Rodey Theatre on the University of New Mexico campus. 鈥淪hrek the Musical Jr.鈥� marks the company鈥檚 101st show.

Ogre and under: Cardboard Playhouse presents 'Shrek the Musical Jr.'

Cardboard Playhouse is a nonprofit, youth theater group in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 that focuses on developing children鈥檚 acting skills and gives youth a space to learn about theater. The company is funded entirely by ticket sales and grants, so child actors do not have to pay to participate in the group.

Kristin Berg, co-artistic director of Cardboard Playhouse, said the show will focus more on the origin stories of Shrek and Fiona, following the characters as 7-year-olds to see how they developed into the adult characters people recognize from the movie.

鈥淭he plotline is basically identical, with the exception of getting that prestory of how Shrek ended up being Shrek,鈥� said Berg. 鈥淲e see him at (age) 7 and how he has to leave home at seven. That鈥檚 what all ogres do and that鈥檚 how he became Shrek. Then we see Fiona as a young princess being sent to the tower that she has to live in with the dragon.鈥�

Berg said watching the cast learn to take a well-known script and make it their own was fun. Actors experimented with different voices and accents to make the characters truly their own.

鈥淥ur Shrek does not have a Scottish accent,鈥� she said. 鈥淥riginally, Shrek wasn鈥檛 even Scottish until Mike Myers took over the role. That was a choice he decided to make, but that is not the choice that you have to make, and we definitely don鈥檛 ever want the kids to do any kinds of impersonation of things that they have heard or seen. That鈥檚 one thing I always made sure to remind the kids of.鈥�

The company auditioned over 80 people for the show. The final cast comprises of 47 children ranging from 6-to-18 years old.

Berg said the musical is a blast from the past, as there are a few cast members who performed in the musical in 2015. Now, as they prepare to age out of the theater group, they will be playing older roles.

鈥淲e鈥檙e a theater company, so we do work with the same kids over and over again,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have kids that started with us when they were 8 years old, and are now getting ready to age out of our program. They鈥檝e been with us for 10 years, so it鈥檚 really fun to see that transition.鈥�

Though a large group of children with such wide age gaps sounds like a chaotic rehearsal, Berg said the group remains efficient and organized and works well together.

鈥淥ur kids are really professional and our older kids take really good care of our younger kids,鈥� she said. 鈥淓veryone is called when they鈥檙e needed, so nobody has to sit around.鈥�

Berg said that the theater group has grown in size and popularity over the years and it has been amazing to see.

鈥淲e used to perform in The Box, which only fits like 50 people,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e were getting to the point that we couldn鈥檛 keep putting on our shows there, so we moved to the South Broadway Cultural Center and then we started selling out that place too. The nice thing about Rodey is it fits 400 people and you can pick any seat you like, which is something we鈥檙e really excited about.鈥�

As the group continues to grow, Berg hopes to put on more shows and encourage more youth to join theater.

鈥淭heater for kids is so important because it teaches them to be versatile,鈥� Berg said. 鈥淚t teaches them public speaking and confidence and all those things that we want to get from arts. But really, just versatility and being able to be flexible is such a huge lesson that we try to teach our kids.鈥�