Stage Review: Shrek, the Musical

When the animated movie, Shrek, opened in 2001, audiences knew right away that it wasn't your typical Disney fairy tale. The title character, and hero, was a big, green ogre with a Scottish brogue. His sidekick was a talking donkey, the princess had a curse placed on her that... well, if you don't know, I'm not going to spoil the twist. And the villain was height challenged. Birds spontaneously combusted, flatulence jokes abounded, a dragon fell in love with a donkey, and Shrek saved a princess from a tower. The movie was so popular that there weren't only two sequels, but three.

Dreamworks adapted the popular movie for the stage and created Shrek, the Musical, which opened on Broadway in 2008 and closed in 2010. The main characters were given back stories and they sang their way through the story. The touring production came to Salt Lake City, and I've been excited about seeing the musical since I heard it was part of the Broadway in Utah season.

The show opens as we learn the "once upon a time" for our two main characters. On his seventh birthday Shrek's parents sent him off by himself into the "big, bright beautiful world." And at around the same age, Fiona is sent to a tower by her parents. Not a very happy beginning for our two main characters. But Shrek finds his own little muddy patch of swamp land away from everyone else, until a bunch of fairy tale characters who have been banished from Duloc by Lord Farquaad interrupt his happy, solitary life. This event is the impetus that takes Shrek on a journey to rescue Fiona from the tower, and where he meets the talking donkey, who will eventually become a friend.

Shrek is by no means a great musical. It is entertaining, at times very funny, and has many fun musical numbers. Some of the humor fell flat for me, such as the flatulence jokes, just as they did in the movie. That kind of low humor just isn't funny to me.

The references to other musicals and movies were funny. Some references were obvious, and others were a bit more subtle. Some of the musical references I notices were Gypsy, Wicked, Dreamgirls, and Les Miserables. I seemed to be the only one who laughed at the references, and I'm sure the people around me wondered why I was laughing. Some of the movies that were referenced were Babe ("That'll do, donkey (pig), that'll do."), and Dirty Dancing ("Nobody puts Baby in a corner.")

Peter Sook's performance as Shrek fell a bit flat for me, as did some of his notes. He was okay in the role, but not a stand out. The stand-out performances for me were  Jeremy Marriner as Lord Farquaad and Whitney Winfield as Princess Fiona. Mariner's Farquaad was hilarious, and he had an added challenge of having to spend most of his time on stage on his knees to give the illusion that he was short, just as he was in the movie. The bit worked very well, and led to many comic moments. He played the diminutive villain very well.

Winfield reminded me a lot of Sutton Foster at first, who originated the role of Fiona in the Broadway production. Her mannerisms and delivery of her lines were similar to Michelle on Bunheads (on ABC Family), who is played by Sutton Foster. But soon I forgot about Sutton Foster, and simply enjoyed Winfield's performance on her own merit. You could tell that she enjoyed the role and was having a good time. Her musical number, "Morning Person," was a highlight of the musical. The tap portion with the dancing mice had great choreography. You can't beat a bunch of dancing mice who perform with drill-team precision.

The fairy tale creatures were a great ensemble. Their two numbers, "Story of My Life" and "Freak Flag" were enjoyable highlights, even though the numbers did nothing to further the story of Shrek and Fiona. I have to mention Maggie Tompkins, who played little Fiona. Her singing in "I Know It's Today" was clear, on pitch, and she has natural comic timing. Who can resist a cute little seven year-old redhead? All three of the Fionas were wonderful in the song.

I bought the Broadway cast recording soundtrack to the musical as soon as it was available, and I love most of the music. I was looking forward to seeing how the songs I enjoyed so much were incorporated into the story. I was disappointed that one of my favorite songs, "Build a Wall," has been cut from the show. I understand that it was cut because they wanted to shorten the show. I wish that they had cut "The Ballad of Farquaad" instead, but that is Lord Farquaad's only big song, so I guess that wouldn't be fair to take it away from him, but "Build a Wall" is a much better song.

The dragon's number in the Broadway production "Donkey Pot Pie" has been replaced by another song, "Forever," which was a good change. The production number was great and the dragon was impressive. The back-up singers in the number were great too. They were men in the stocks who had tried previously to kill the dragon, and had been there "forever."

Following the curtain call, the cast treated us to a fun version of "I'm a Believer." It was a perfect ending to a very fun show.