STEP VA Cast Profile – Grant Hobbs & Reagan Stilwell
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
by Brigid O'Leary
FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA – The Creative Team for the Spring Musical Experience at STEP VA Inc., the local 501(c)3 nonprofit that “empowers people with disabilities and their families through creative expression and sensory exploration,” always chooses family-friendly shows for the spring musical and this year is no different. “Shrek the Musical JR.” is fun for the whole family, with humor, adventure, well-known fairy tale characters, a princess, a dragon—and both a villain and a sidekick. Who better to play them than Grant Hobbs and Reagan Stilwell?
Grant Hobbs is no stranger to the stage. He got his start in high school and joined the regular cast of the STEP VA Spring Musical Experience as the titular character in “You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” He followed that up with the role of Dr Seuss, a narrator-type role, in “Seussical, Jr” and last year he played Gurgle, the nervous, germophobic royal gramma fish when the organization staged Disney/Pixar's “Finding Nemo Jr.” Now he takes up the mantle—or bobbed hair—of the villainous Lord Farquaad in “Shrek the Musical JR.”
Hobbs' desire to return to the Spring Musical Experience is multi-dimensional.
“I just like doing theater,” he said, before adding that “I also just like playing characters and dancing and making friends along the way.”
Early in the season, those aspects that he enjoys most were also what he was most anticipating for the show this year.
“I look forward to learning the choreography and making friends with some of the cast and crew,” he said.
With years of experience under his belt, Hobbs also finds a way to keep learning as each musical season progresses. “Shrek the Musical JR” has been no different.
“The most challenging aspect of the show was managing my acting choices. For example, deciding when it was a good time to yell a line and [when to] talk a line, since my voice could only handle so much. Because of that, I learned to accept criticism from others and used it to be the best Farquaad I can be,” he explained.
Hobbs is one of many who named “Freak Flag” as his favorite song, and why he's drawn to it is very telling—not only for himself but for some of his cast mates as well.
“Even though my character is not in it, it is an amazing song because at that point the fairy tale creatures have been pushed away from most places,” he said. “But then, they find community within each other through what makes them different. And this is what leads them to realize they have power and community within each other. I find it special because all this time, they have been prosecuted by Farquaad and his knights and now at that moment, they found a group that accepts them as who they are.”
That acceptance is the backbone of STEP VA programs, especially the Spring Musical and its what drew Reagan Stilwell to the show—so to speak.
Stepping into the ears of Shrek's sidekick, Donkey, Stilwell will draw on experiences she's had with her homeschool co-op and local theater opportunities, including performances at both the Ecclesia School of the Arts and Academy Center of the Arts.
“I’ve done some theater stuff where I live but they haven’t been as accommodating. I’ve always had to accommodate for myself,” she explained.
She points to her parents as the reason she's involved in the Spring Musical Experience this year, noting that it was they who found out about STEP VA, what it offers, and encouraged her to give it a try. It was a leap of faith—and dedication, as Stilwell commuted two and half hours, one way, for the weekly rehearsals.
Her favorite songs are the “Travel Song” and “I Know It’s Today,” but she can't pick a favorite scene.
“There are so many good ones!” she said.
At auditions, she was hoping to land a main role because “most of my theater [roles have] been ensemble. Everyone’s always told me, do this, don’t do that. It’s been hard, especially people telling me ‘don’t do’ something.”
With the show just days away, Stilwell has had a chance to experience musical theater “the STEP VA way,” and it has been quite the opposite of her previous theater opportunities. She reports that rehearsals haven't been particularly challenging and that she “has had so much fun and enjoyed each one.” The best part of it all has been that “everyone is accepted for who they are.”
Audience members can come see Hobbs and Stilwell—and the rest of the cast—for who they really are, even while they play all manner of fanciful (and less fanciful) characters in “Shrek the Musical JR” this weekend. Show times are Saturday, April 18 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, April 19, at 3 p.m.
Tickets on sale at www.stepva.org.
