Malverne Summer Theatre's "Shrek: the Musical"

Malverne neighbors grabbed their lawn chairs and packed their popcorn to enjoy Malverne Summer Theatre's third outdoor summer musical extravaganza. They performed Shrek The Musical under the stars. Admission was free for the whole family to enjoy the one-night-only production.

“We wanted to give back to the community with a free performance,” said Micheal Messina, Malverne district supervisor of music and fine arts. “To bring all aspects of the community together to enjoy theater.”

The Malverne Summer Theatre started after the Covid-19 lockdown as a chance to allow people to go out and enjoy a performance after such a long time locked away inside. This year they settled on Shrek The Musical as the performance to engage not only kids, but also adults.

“We decided that Shrek was going to be the show this year because we wanted something fun, something light, something that you can bring kids to and they will enjoy, but also the adults will really get a kick out of it too,” said Dave Coonan, who is directing the musical.

The performers put a lot of work in to bring the community a wonderful performance that all can enjoy. With just six weeks of preparation, the performers worked night and day to have everything polished and live up to the standard of performance they have created.

“Dave and his team have been rehearsing since the end of June, Monday through Thursday, six o’clock to nine o’clock everyday,” Messina said. “Not only that, outside all those hours, the actors have to learn all their lines and songs.”

“They are completely dedicated, they know what they signed up for and they work really hard to deliver,” Coonan said. “They are the ones carrying the quality and the tradition through.”

The performers consisted of current Malverne students, Marlverne alumni and other members of the surrounding community with a love and passion for theater. People of all ages, from 15 to 60, worked together on the show. It’s “a great opportunity for all Malverne theater people of past and present to get together and do a performance,” Messina said.

Cast and crew dedicated countless hours to the performance, but Dave Coonan was still committed to ensuring it remained a free performance that the community could come to and simply enjoy. His goal, he said, is for all members of the community and in the surrounding area come out to interact with one another and enjoy the performance.

“It’s for the community, this is a special event that pulls the community from all around together,” Coonan said. “And not just the school district community, but towns and villages in the surrounding area. We want everybody to come and see this.

“It’s free because it’s for the community, and it’s for all of us to share our love of theatre.”