Shrek The Musical transports us to the land of fairy tales as a giant storybook opens to reveal to children and adults alike, Dreamwork’s land of make believe. Gasps of delight erupt from excited children, as larger than life, green, enormous and endearingly ugly, Shrek steps from the pages of the book to lead us through his magical swampland inhabited by all singing, all dancing characters from children’s bedtime stories: Pinocchio, The Three Bears, Peter Pan, The Three Little Pigs, The Sugar Plum Fairy, The Gingerbread Man, Pied Piper and a funny fiesty Princess Fiona, destined to capture the heart of the big brave tongue-tied Ogre.
The cast of this most entertaining production is led by Dean Chisnall as Shrek. A talented tour de force! He successfully sings, dances, bumbles and endears his way into our hearts and is brilliantly paired with co-star Bronte Barbe. With great fire, fun (and minus the princess etiquette…) she creates a great strong female character. Not only does she sing beautifully, as does Dean Chisnall, the Princess tap dances her way through a stunning tap dance routine, accompanied by a chorus of very dapper dancing rats!
As Donkey, Idriss Kargbo, bucks up an exciting dance storm and is the unwilling object of infatuation in a hilarious love story between him and the fierce feminine dragon, culminating in a wonderful duet scene.
To cap it all, Lord Farquaat, played by the uber talented Gerard Carey, brings comedy timing to its knees! – Quite literally, as he plays the whole role on his knees, prancing, skipping, dancing, singing – all whilst manipulating some very tiny fake legs! He is hilarious and makes a delightfully delicious, baddie that will have you in barrels of laughter throughout.
The script is teaming with gags, one liners and double entendres for both adults and children to enjoy. The style of the production very much picks up qualities of high end pantomime, with some of the children in the audience finding it hard not to shout out at times.
There are superb vocal performances from the cast which strengthen Jeanine Tesori’s musical score. The plot itself does not stray far from the original movie, however if you watch closely you will catch a few tongue in cheek nods to several iconic musicals.
There are touching moments, in particular when ‘Young Princess Fiona’ aged seven, played by Lucie McCutcheon sings ‘I Know It’s Today’. There seemed almost a palpable glow from the little girls in the audience lit by anticipation – no doubt wishing in X-Factor fashion “That could be me!” This production offers a hilarious and fun night out that is perfect for families and will captivate young hearts – and adults too!
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