Popular green ogre Shrek will stomp on to the St Aloysius College stage in the coming days as the students’ soirée gets under way.

Hundreds pack the college’s theatre every year to be entertained by the Sixth Form students’ creativity and talent.

“The first half of the show typically features a variety of acts, including sketches, singing and dancing, while the second half consists of a musical,” says the orchestra director, Aleandro Spiteri Monsigneur.

Many students are involved in the event, not only on stage but also behind the scenes.

A team of directors has been planning this event for over six months

“The amount of performers on stage is nothing compared to the tremendous number of people who have been constantly working behind the scenes in different departments – these span from prop building to design and the arrangement of lights andsound. These, besides the actors, singers and the live orchestra that will be playing during the musical.”

A team of directors has been planning this event for over six months. Rehearsals started at the beginning of November for the orchestra and main cast, while preparations for the minor roles began mostly towards the end of the month. The crew joined in the preparations around mid-December.

Spiteri Monsigneur says that probably the biggest challenge of the show is the planning and preparation involved to bring all the ideas of the directing team to life.

“Amalgamating all the different elements of the show together to create the final product – the soirée in its entirety – is an even greater challenge.”

Of course, a musical would not be called so without songs.

“The musical will have a total of 11 songs from the original Shrek musical as well as from the film”.

• The St Aloysius College Soirée runs from today until Sunday at the college’s theatre. Tickets are available from the St Aloysius College Sixth Form.