Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. Today I will be taking you through my review of Shrek which I watched on 24th March 2024.
Everyone knows that this show is show is so iconic after the film. But just as a recap, this film is about an Ogre who goes on a quest to get his swamp back and take Princess Fiona to her one true love in Duloc. However they then fall in love on the way, proving that you shouldn’t judge someone before you get to know them.
I can’t imagine how much pressure or how much excitement each actor felt when taking on each roles of this well known musical adaptation. So here are my favourites on a few of them:
Andrew Lawrence took on the titular role of the show and what a good job he did of it. His Scottish accent was fluent, his voice was amazing, and how he was able to show that like this iconic character, he just a gentle giant who just wants to be loved, and it was so beautiful to see. And his solos “When Words Fail", just before he overhears Fiona assuming that what she was saying is about him, and the reprise of “Big Bright Beautiful World” when he expresses his love for her, were adorable, and you could see he meant every word of what he was saying. Well done Andrew.
Brandon Lee Sears took on Shrek's hyperactive yet positive sidekick Donkey. And I think that Eddie Murphy has abit of competition on his hands, as his first song “Don't Let Me Go” and the qualities he brings to the character like going on all 4s and using his back legs to “prepare to charge” was brilliant. And there was one moment where he came out with something when he first appears in Duloc and as soon as that happened I thought “this is me”. I won’t say what but you’ll be quite surprised to know.
Joanne Clifton took on the iconic role of Princess Fiona. And what a job she did if it. her sassiness, her comedic timing and her iconic dance ability in the opening of Act 2 really made this the perfect time for her. And how she did her Ogre transformation in such a quick timing is clueless and you want to know the secret but at the same time you don’t. Either way she gave off a brilliant performance.
Finally James Gillan took on the role of Lord Farquard. I got abit of a feminine aura off of him, but guess that’s a good way to put your own spin on a villain like this character. He also reminded me of Flynn rider from tangled when he did a smoulder to try to impress Fiona, and his scooter for taking Fiona to Duloc was brilliant, as obviously they couldn’t get real horses for the stage so that was a wise thinking replacement.
The ensemble had a lot to offer as well. I won’t mention all of them as I’d be here forever, but here are the main ones that stood out to me.
The first ensemble character was Gingy, portrayed and puppeteered by Georgie Buckley. This character was so cute, especially when confronted by Lord Farquard. I also wondered how in that scene how they made it so realistic yet it’s a puppet. I was also impressed by Buckley's vocal ability as Gingy hitting those whilst registers flawlessly. A cute character that I’m glad was a highlight in the show.
Cherece Richards took on the role of Dragon. Now she was a superstar, and how the puppeteers who controlled the puppet version (who was an exact replica from the film) copied her exact movement from the actor was flawless and insane. And during her song “Donkey Pot Pie” expressing her fondness over Donkey along with the vocals were perfection.
The final ensemble member that stood out to me was Pinocchio played by Mark D’arcy. He was the ringleader of the “Freaks” who got banished to the swamp and I guess without him they wouldn’t have been able to like themselves for who they are. This is a real contrast to the Pinocchio in the film, and it was very refreshing to see. My only thing that would’ve made this character better was if his nose extended when he told a lie, but obviously maybe there were things within the costume department they couldn’t do for various reasons. And this was maybe one of them.
The songs in the show was also catchy. Some of them written especially for this show, some having the dialogue from the film being turned into song lyrics, and one in particular everyone knows the lyrics to.
The first song that stood out to me was "Freak Flag". I can see why it's a catchy song, as it's the perfect way to express our differences and be proud of them, and also a fine example of just because some people may be against our differences, it doesn't mean that no one else will like them. And Gingy's voice was also a surprise for me, hitting that whistle register so effortlessly. This song also gave me the idea of possibly doing a musical about autism using this song. I know it’s all early stages, and I have other projects like my film to be doing, but with this initial idea in mind and then expanding or merging it with a few scripts I’ve been writing, it could turn into something bigger.
The songs by donkey were also fabulous. His first one, which is "Don't Let Me Go", really set the character up as some of the dialogue in the original film was used in the song, which was clever, and the vocals Brandon produced were off the scale. The "Travel Song" was also brilliant as it’s definitely one of the songs that I would use just to annoy my friends and family and that it’s also definitely an ear worm song.
And finally the most iconic one was of course “I’m A Believer”. This was used on the finale of the show and they were right to do so. Unlike in the original film, this was an extended version, which may have been the whole song. But that didn’t stop me from singing the first verse and the chorus and I just hopped along in time to the music. And after previously mentioning in this blog about having the inspiration to do a musical about autism, this could be a perfect finale piece.
There are some major differences from the film to the stage show, along with additional qualities. I won’t give away too much in fear of spoilers but here are a few. First of all the main difference being that they showed a young Shrek and Fiona’s life before the events of the film and at the beginning of the show, and you can now see afterwards why they had a lot in common and started to fall in love. There also wasn’t certain songs that were used in the film, but I won't say what they are as I want you to see for yourself and if you notice it. Whilst I was a little bit disappointed, obviously in the initial stages they had to look at what worked and what didn’t, but they did replace certain songs with brilliant new ones as mentioned before to make up for it. There were also references like Puss In Boots (where obviously he doesn’t enter until the future films but he is a popular character) and also the "Defying Gravity" reference when Lord Farquad made a dazzling exit. Those were some of the differences.
I don’t think that I have any downsides per say but more observations. The first one being that some of the children’s volume were taking over from the show, but that’s something I obviously won’t be able to control. And I think the other thing I noticed was that on the projector a technical issue did come into play but that was easily fixed. So a huge shoutout to the tech team who came to resolve the issue if it was a genuine thing.
Overall I would give the show a 4.95. It was fun, energetic, brought back so much nostalgia and if those little issues didn’t come up it would’ve been a full house.
I hope you enjoyed this review, and it’s on tour until 31st August 2024. So if you want a trip to the swamp before then, please see the link here to find out where it’s going to for the rest of the year: Shrek The Musical - UK Tour (shrekuktour.com)
See you soon for another blog. Until next time…
This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)
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