Shrek - The Musical

This is a musical based on the 2001 Dreamworks Animation film “Shrek”, along with elements of its sequels – “Shrek”2, “Shrek Forever After” and William Steig’s 1990 book “Shrek”. The Broadway production ran from December 2008 to January 2010 followed by a US tour and a re-vamped West End production from June 2011 - February 2013 with a UK tour from 20014 -  2018. Due to the temporary closure of PMS’s usual theatre venue they staged a small scale musical last spring by creating a performance space in the large ballroom of a local hotel. This was very successful but, as I drove up to watch ‘Shrek’ in the same venue I wondered how on earth they could stage such a large production in that space?! 

How could I doubt the ingenuity of this company?

On a small stage built from scratch and with little wing space they designed and built their own set plus backdrops and accommodated a cast of over 50 and backstage team of more than 30!! Props – many of which were made by the team – were all appropriate and well managed. Lighting, designed by Mark Coulson and operated by Tom Waddell, was mostly good although it was a pity that the auditorium was not illuminated when cast were still acting as they exited or entered through the audience. There was also too much reliance on coloured stage washes resulting in Princess Fiona being green before her transformation to an ogre ! Cuthbertson Sound did a good job assisted by PMS members to change and adjust body mics. Make-up was sourced in England for character roles and expertly administered by Lisa Cunningham Black and team with prosthetic design by ‘Becs Does Shrek’. Costumes were hired where necessary and skillfully altered and delivered by a great PMS team of designers and seamstresses.

Played by Aiden Hughes, Shrek was totally convincing as the antisocial and isolated ogre and hardly ever off the stage! His rapport with Tim Brown as the annoyingly talkative Donkey was great! They just bounced off each other with professional ease and when they became a trio with Fiona Flynn as Princess Fiona, they were as good in song and dialogue as any I’ve seen – amateur or professional. The Princess was required to be feisty, headstrong, quirky, blunt, romantic in turn – Fiona covered her spectrum of characterizations very well. Coming back to his old society from his current home in Scotland, Alan Morton put his all into the challenging role of the diminutive baddie Lord Farquad. Spending most of his time on his knees, he ‘danced’ and sang, emphasizing the comedy in the wannabe King with sardonic energy. Teen Fiona (Megan Paul), Young Fiona and young Shrek (Freja Thorpe & Aimee Wilson) had their chances to shine at the beginning of the show and when the Princess’ early years were explained. Elaine MacAuley was Queen Lillian (Princess Fiona’s mother) and also the Dragon guarding Fiona in her tower for many years. We missed the large dragon puppet which had proved too big for this stage, without which it was difficult to impress. I know that the pink Dragon headdress was what was provided but, with such good seamstresses on the costume team I would have liked to see some red fiery flame ‘wings’ so that the dragon looked more dangerous! I am guessing that Elaine also joined the ensemble in some crowd scenes to add her considerable singing voice.

Many fairytale creatures had individual ‘spots’, amongst which was Pinocchio (Steph Jamieson) whose nose ‘grew’ every time he told a lie! Steph maintained a high-pitched squeaky voice all through. Gingy, the tiny terror gingerbread man, was controlled and voiced by Gemma Campbell (Litte Red Riding Hood) but hard to see in his opening scene. Also employing a difficult voice was Sandra McEllhinney as the gravel voiced Wicked Witch. Like many others such as the Three Bears, she did a grand job of utilising a fantasy voice. There are enough fart and burp jokes in this show to make all the children in the audience laugh out loud and enough double entendre to make the adults chuckle! Every ‘creature’ worked their socks off and gave this production a joyous fresh feel.

Under the baton of Robin McCay, the 9 piece band played the variety of musical genres – ballads, R&B, dance, rock & pop – 

with good stage/pit balance. Choreography was well rehearsed and precise with dance numbers to accommodate so many on the small stage. Shared between 4 people, three came onboard after Rosemary (who had prepared the show for its original pre-covid date) had to withdraw. I was particularly impressed by the number of tap-dancing Rats! For Director/Production Designer Kerry Kane, this production was ‘her baby’, nurtured since well before Lockdown! Kerry was very emotionally involved which was evident in her palpable intensity. Although not on my list of favourite shows it was a triumph of comic imagination and inspiring in the commitment of all those involved. Thank you so much to everyone.

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