What do a farting friendly ogre, a slightly bi-polar princess, a short little deranged (wanna-be) king and a motor mouth jokester donkey all have in common? This rag tag group, along with a bunch of mishap freak fairy-tale characters make up the phenomenal cast of Shrek-The Musical.
Last night, I had the fun of attending the opening night of this smash hit Broadway play at the Ohio Theater. I have been to other “kid” oriented musicals in the past, and while I always enjoy them, I can’t say that I always walk away impressed. Shrek-The Musical was a nice break from traditional children’s plays. The acting was excellent, the sets were superb and the musical score was fantastic.
There are so many “adult” innuendos, that along with channeling an eleven year old boy with farts and belches, you find yourself literally spit laughing at comments only those of a particular age can appreciate. I won’t spoil the laughs by giving them away but trust me, they are non-stop and make the play rock for us adults, while flying right over the heads of the under 15 crowd.
While I already knew the general premise of the story, I was pleasantly surprised how the writers translated it for the stage. With the exception of the final song, all the rest of the music was original. The musical starts right out with Shrek using skunk deodorant in the “Story of My Life” and goes right on to wow and entertain in songs sets like, What’s Up, Duloc, and “Who I’d Be.” Any child (or man-child) will fall out of their seats during the fart/belch ballad “I think I Got You Beat” and by far the fairy-tale characters win the best song of the night with “Freak Flag” a fantastic song about accepting yourself just the way you are.
The absurd and crazy cast of characters make this show really what it is. While Shrek might be the “star” of the show. Donkey is by far the laugh maker. One line after another make you belly laugh while simultaneous feeling for the poor thing. I am really glad that they left the story line of Donkey and Dragon. I was a tad distracted by the puppeteers working the dragon but she was done so well, that after a few minutes, I found myself wrapped up in their love affair.
Princess Fiona does a great job making crazy look good. Being locked up in that tower definitely had some affect on her emotions. Her character does a great job playing to Shrek’s grossness and even though I knew the outcome, I was pained to see Shrek send her away.
Now, I have to tell you, Lord Farquaad made me a tad uncomfortable. For whatever reason, the costume designer decided to make him a typical size actor who walked on his knees with tiny padded legs in front. It was so awkward, yet perfect, that you just can’t help but cringe a bit. And when he rides in on his wooden stead, you pretty much want to close your eyes in embarrassment for him.
While I love the fairy-tale characters, Gingy wins hands down as my favorite character. He is lovable, yet sarcastic and I found myself wanting to run down and rescue him off that pan.
I don’t want to end this review without mentioning again how great the set design is. I wondered how they would be able to make the variety of sets, and do it well. The sets, especially the swamp, forest and castle are great. The dragon’s lair is dark and scary. The set changes are smooth and you hardly notice that a change has happened until it is already done. Kudos to the set designers!
Overall this is a super fun, dance in your seat, belly laugh kind of musical. If you are looking for something fun and cultural to do with the kids this weekend, head over to the Ohio Theater, grab yourself a couple of seats, buy some souvenir ogre ears and enjoy Shrek-The Musical.
Shrek-The Musical is playing through Sunday at the Ohio Theater. You can still save $10 off each ticket when you buy four. Just purchase the “Family Fun Pack**” at Ticket Master or at the CAPA Box office.
**Restrictions Apply. Valid on Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sun evening performances only. Must buy a minimum of 4 tickets and may add additional tickets at a promotional price. Request Family Fun Pack when purchasing tickets.
Here is a list of remaining showtimes:
- Thu, 1/12/12 8 pm
- Fri, 1/13/12 8 pm
- Sat, 1/14/2012 2 pm
- Sat, 1/14/2012 8 pm
- Sun, 1/15/12 1 pm
- Sun, 1/15/2012 6:30 pm
I ended up buying myself and my mother ticket for this musical on opening night. She didn’t have very high expectations going in, but she ended up loving it! My favorite parts had to be all of the Lord Farquaad scenes, they had us cracking up. I loved that they were able to get the Gingy puppet so expressive. It seemed like there were hardly any kids there, but I think that had to do with how late the play started plus it was on a school night. I’m suspecting the place will be packed with kids on the matinees this weekend.