General News
26 May, 2024
Shrek on stream just for Fletcher
Horsham Arts Council life member Simon Dandy mesmerises audiences in Horsham Arts Council's sell-out performances, with his family his keenest fans.
Horsham Arts Council life member Simon Dandy mesmerises audiences in Horsham Arts Council's sell-out performances, with his family his keenest fans.
But this time it seemed that son Fletcher, 9, in Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital undergoing chemotherapy, would miss watching his talented dad play the undersized Lord Farquaad of Duloc in the popular Shrek the Musical.
That was until arts council president Nick Wilson and director Emily Friedrichsen stepped in to achieve the seemingly impossible - a live-stream broadcast to Fletcher's hospital room.
Fletcher, a Holy Trinity Lutheran College Year 4 student, has been undergoing treatment for leukemia since early March.
His mother Samara is with him, sleeping at the hospital each night and also using Ronald McDonald House. My Room Children's Cancer Charity is also helping the family.
His dad and sister Kirrily, 13, in Year 8 at Holy Trinity, are weekend visitors.
"We will be eternally grateful for the effort the arts council made for Fletcher," Mr Dandy said.
"It just meant so much to all of us. People don't realise how grateful we are. It meant a lot of work dealing with MTI to achieve this."
Mr Dandy said it might be Christmas before Fletcher returned to Horsham.
Mr Wilson, also Shrek executive producer, said cast members were unaware until almost curtain call for the tenth and final Horsham Town Hall performance that it was to be streamed to Fletcher's hospital room.
"The cast was thrilled that we were able to achieve this and grateful that it could be organised," Mr Wilson said.
"And once we'd explained to Music Theatre International, which holds all Shrek licences, why we wanted the show streamed, they waived costs for Horsham Arts Council. There's usually fees and charges involved."
Hospital administrators also worked to ensure a secure connection to Fletcher's room.