Shrek the Musical

Shrek The Musical, book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire with music by Jeanine Tesori.based on the Dreamworks animation motion picture.

We were delighted to be invited to this production by STOS , and what a wonderful evening we had. 

If I could simply write a one word report I would , but realistically that isn't what is expected. During the production we experience so many of the well known fairy tale  and other children's story book  characters, the challenge of blending all these together was wonderfully executed throughout, Pinocchio,White Rabbit , Wicked Witch,Mad Hatter, Tinkerbell, Three blind mice to name but a few. In all productions you need strong leads ,and you certainly had them in abundance .

Shrek played by Mark Holmes filled the stage with his presence, some beautiful scenes,showing off his multi talents,in emotion,aggression with excellent delivery of lines along with many quality songs. Donkey played by Damien Ross was a joy to watch , great characterisation , a physically demanding part , and as I was informed he had been really poorly ,you would never have realised , maintaining his energy throughout. The whole production  held the audience with so many memorable moments , excellent ensemble numbers, laugh out loud visuals, great shaping and the strictest of discipline in all the scenes . 

Enter Lord Farquaad played by Richard Grainger , one of the funniest performances I have seen ,the physical effort, staging of the moves ,your facials some excellent singing ,an all round wonderful performance . Of course not forgetting Princess Fiona , played by Sara Hibberd ,The staging of the transition between young Fiona , to teen Fiona and finally to Adult Fiona , was so simple but beautifully executed . I really enjoyed your many and varied scenes with Shrek and Donkey with some lovely songs throughout the musical. 

Without spoiling this for your remaining audiences , listen out for cleverly delivered almost panto lines , comic moments whilst Farquaad is on his horse, the reference of GPS,the broken legs on the gingerbread man , which  comically became stitched later in the performance ,the perched owl and so many more. 

The appearance of the dragon was wonderfully staged and I thoroughly  enjoyed the singing of Cholwe Muntanga,playing the voice of the dragon, during This is How a Dream Comes True, wow,so powerful . Gingy/ sugar plum fairy really well performed by Heather Taylor. Pinocchio played by Viv Siberry Scott was great to watch,portraying the  discipline required for this role,with feeling and excellent comedic moments.

In Mark Feakins you had an excellent and very experienced director who along with James Bell developed an excellent production ,clearly hours of planning thought and rehearsal to deliver the highest quality seen this evening. The Choreography by Claire Harriott was also top drawer, I particularly appreciated the clever spacing and shaping during the ensemble pieces. The balance provided by your MD Tom Owen ,his orchestra and the performers was a pleasure to listen to . 

The set ,the lighting the creation of so many and varied scenes was really appreciated by the very full audience. 

I must say how lovely it is seeing young performers, they give so much and will remember these opportunities for many years to come. 

The ensemble were all excellent and very believable ,showing the highest level of commitment required to produce a musical to this standard. Whether delivering lines , singing ,movement, characterisation ,smaller speaking parts , all really well done.

The costumes were really well chosen adding such vibrance to the stage ,showing off the many many characters as referred to above. 

Congratulations to all involved, on and off stage ,a production of this magnitude ,set changes,cloth changes ,doesn't happen without a strong team, well done. 

Thank you to the front of house team and the hospitality provided to Sylvia and myself.

At the start of this report I said a one word report would be adequate........Brilliant..... It would also have been much quicker. 

Don't miss this musical, you will not be disappointed .

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