Rowan Tolstedt has a big smile and a welcoming personality, but this week, the senior will embrace the role of a villain when he takes the stage for his final high school drama performance.

“Surprisingly, it’s fun to play the villain, especially since I’ve had contrasting roles in the past,” Toldstedt said of his character, Lord Farquaad. “I mean, I played Elf at Perry-Mansfield this year, so this one is very different.”

“Shrek the Musical” opens with a performance at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Steamboat Springs High School auditorium. There will also be 6:30 p.m. performances on Friday and Saturday, and a 1:30 p.m. matinee Saturday.

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Tolstedt is among the 31 performers and 12 tech students involved in the Sailors Drama Troupe’s production. Tickets were still available as of Tuesday afternoon at SteamboatSchools.net/about-us/box-office for $15 for students, $20 for general admission and $30 for reserved seating. Tickets are also available for purchase in person at Steamboat Springs High School.

“This particular year we have more seniors involved than we’ve had in the past few years,” said Deena Selko, the director of the production.

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That group of seniors includes Tolstedt, Ona Royer, Natalie Bruellman, Bryson Lee, Deborah Frois, Jayme Mayne, Eva Mosher, Sophie Cowman, Sienna Lichtenfeld and Kali Waldman. Junior Ruby Frank is taking on the role of Princess Fiona, and fellow junior Jeremiah MacGray — in his stage debut — is playing Shrek.

“I haven’t done anything with musical theater at all and this is my first production,” MacGray said. “I’m still in awe like that I even got the role — I really didn’t think I would. I went out for the gingerbread man, and they were like how would you feel about getting green?”

MacGray said he has always been a fan of the movie franchise, and decided to try out for a role in the show even though he had never been a performer.

“I think the biggest reason I tried for a role was because the production was ‘Shrek,'” MacGray said. “I love ‘Shrek’ and have loved it since I was a kid. When I saw it was the musical, I was like, ‘I must do it. I must do something because I can’t just let an opportunity to do ‘Shrek’ pass.'”

MacGray will be joined on stage by Frank, who was inspired by the Broadway production of “Shrek” and has been dreaming about playing the part of Fiona for years.

“I saw the movie for the first time right before we started working on the show,” Frank said. “I found the proshot (a professional filmed version on the stage show) of the Broadway version in like 2014 and became obsessed with it. … I’ve been watching that ever since, so I was exposed to the Broadway show first and then the movie.”

She is also a big fan of Sutton Foster, who played the role of Fiona in the original Broadway show.

“It means everything to me,” Frank said of performing in this play. “This has been my dream role for 10 years, specifically because Fiona gets to be the princess, but she’s also hilarious. She shows the human side of falling in love with people, and just like being yourself and falling in love with yourself. It’s awesome because she gets to be the princess and be funny.”

Selko said the production is a community effort with adults stepping into leadership, and dedicated students bringing talent and creativity to the stage. She also said the proceeds from this show will be put back into the program for productions during the 2024-25 school year.

“It takes a team of adults putting in countless hours to make a show like this happen, as well as a dedicated cast, hungry to create, and ready to pour their hearts and souls into a show,” Selko said. “Choosing the right show for the students is an imperative part of what makes a show successful, and something I take very seriously. I am incredibly proud of the team that made this show happen and hope to be able to garner more support from the community to grow this program into something that everyone will want to be a part of when they get to high school.”