Shrek The Musical

Shrek the Musical is a great family show and the choice of performing it at half term has attracted a full house. It was wonderful to hear the appreciation of the audience and see the joyful performance this evening.

Directed and choreographed by the experienced Claire Carr, Shrek tells the story of an Ogre (Declan Wright), who is abandoned on his seventh birthday. Shrek wants to reclaim the swamp where he lives from the Fairy-tale creatures that have moved in after being evicted from the City of Duloc by Lord Farquaad (James Cohen). Lord Farquaad enlists Shrek to rescue Princess Fiona (Joanne Halliday) from the tower where she has been isolated since she was seven. Shrek and his friend Donkey (Nathan Gray) have to negotiate a treacherous journey including avoiding being eaten by the Dragon (Tilly Darragh).

During their journey back to Duloc, Shrek and Fiona grow close and we discover that Fiona has a lot more in common with Shrek than he knows. Shrek overhears Fiona telling Donkey that no-one would love someone so ugly, talking about ogre-self, but Shrek misunderstands. Shrek shuns Fiona and feeling rejected, she decides to marry Farquaad immediately but with the help of Donkey, the fairy-tale creatures and the Dragon, Shrek wins the day and the girl.

LODS have a reputation for being a close-knit and hard-working company, and this show reflected this well. Despite a few first-night hiccups, the music, singing, choreography, costumes, make-up and wigs were fabulous and when the fairy-tale characters came in through the audience chattering, it made you feel like the action was happening around you. The fairy-tale creatures were all recognisable and had great characters to match. There are too many to mention but James Boatwright was a great Pinocchio, with a wooden body and an extending nose; the three blind mice, the three bears and the three little pigs were great examples of brilliant costumes, and characters that were like those in the animated film. I particularly liked the three pigs and their German accents. (Simon Sharpe, Sam Blyth and Jane Lamberti), the Sugar plum fairy/ Gingerbread boy (Louise Brown) and the Wicked Witch (Helen Sharpe). Oh, and Courtney Emery’s Ugly Duckling was delightful!

Prosthetics were very well executed and looked effective. Shrek is large and green, with a bulbous nose, Shrek’s parents and even young Shrek, played on opening night by Charlie Whitnell, looked great. There were also younger versions of Fiona and during the song ‘I know its Today’ Lola Fuente played Young Fiona, Cody Gray played Teen Fiona and of course Jo Halliday played adult Fiona. The voices in this song were strong and beautiful. Diction was good and the long wait that Fiona had experienced was explained well through her love of fairy-tales.

There was good use of the entire cast for this show and many actors had to double up. There was the tap dance by the rats, and the dance of the Duloc population and many ensemble pieces, including all the Fairy-tale creatures that were carefully arranged and choreographed. The whole theatre was used, with entrances and exits via the audience and use of the boxes too.

The set was very effective, a castle, a tower, and there was an animated story book as a backdrop to many scenes that added to the magic.

Shrek himself was played by Declan Wright. He looked great and he embodied the character of Shrek. He has a fabulous speaking voice with the Scottish lilt of the animated character, and a pitch perfect singing voice with a beautiful tone that could silence the audience and hold their attention. Fiona was equally as strong, with an American accent, Joanna portrayed a Fiona the audience could love as Shrek did, playful and amiable. When the two characters sang together the harmonies were on point. The development of the relationship between the two was well observed.

Apart from the bottom-burp humour that I and the audience found very funny, comedy came from the hyperactive Donkey, played by Nathan Gray. Donkey had a bouncy personality and he connected with the bad-tempered Shrek. The two had an interesting relationship; Donkey showed a loyalty to Shrek that proved to him that he could be loved.

Lord Farquaad was played by James Cohen, on his knees most of the time! This must have been a difficult task but it was hilarious. The costume and wig used by James made him look amusing and he seemed very short allowing the opportunity for many visual jokes. The horse scene was brilliant, a huge plastic horse with false human legs that was pushed on and off, complete with funny expressions from the guards. James’ expressions and intonation were very funny, and of course like everyone else he has a great singing voice. He was the baddie you love to hate.

The musical director for this production was Natalie Thurlow and with a twelve strong orchestra the music was superb. The sound balance was good, both music and voices could be heard equally well.  The sound effects were accurately timed, from the roar of Shrek to the incidental sounds during the action, including the flatulence. Lighting effects were good and added to the atmosphere.

On the whole, this show left me with a smile on my face as I left the theatre, singing along to ‘I’m a Believer.’ Thank you for an enjoyable evening and well done to all members of cast and crew.

 

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