Shrek the Musical (2013)

Disney managed to adapt 'The Lion King' and 'Beauty and the Beast' for stage, so it was no surprise that DreamWorks tried to do the same with 'Shrek'.However, why the previously mentioned two Disney films worked was because they had some very good songs built into them in the first place, which for all its plaudits, 'Shrek' didn't have.It's a decent enough stage show, but lacks the songs it needs to be great, and I didn't enjoy the changes to the story either.Sorry, this wasn't for me.

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It's nice when the producers of these musical gems see fit to do a nicely cinematic rendition of such lays. After watching "Phantom" at the Royal Albert Hall and then this one as a presentation on Netflix, I'm hoping that more will be saved for always. This is not the world's greatest musical, but it is full of life, wonderful characters, and a nice edge to it. It has two or three very good songs and lots of topical material. The two leads in particular capture the Disney original and are able to poke fun at themselves. If there is a downside, it does go on a bit long and the fairy tale characters aren't used quite as much as they could be. I remember seeing Prince Farquhar on the Tony Awards and was amazed at his dexterity, playing the entire part on his knees. I would imagine that most of the theater goers already know the plot but the magic still gets us from the get go.

I found this show/recording to be a really mixed bag. It was pretty much 50/50 for me, but because what was good worked so well, I'm willing to bump the rating up from a 5 to a 6 or maybe 7 out of 10.What worked:The more humanoid of the movie mains. Shrek and Fiona were absolutely wonderful. They had fantastic songs written for them that fleshed out their characters ("Who I'd Be", "I Know It's Today", and "When Words Fail" being my favorites). Plus, having them being played by Broadway greats, Brian D'Arcy James and Sutton Foster definitely didn't hurt. Farquaad was also a treat. Christopher Sieber was able to consistently ham it up just the right amount whenever he was on stage. The musical referencing. This was a really nice touch to the show since the Shrek franchise is known for referencing pop culture. Not only does the musical theater world move a little slower than the pop world, making for a bit of a safety net for the jokes over the next decade, but it's fitting for the musical version of Shrek, to in fact, joke about it's own genre.The costumes and makeup. Of course, if you're doing a full-blown fairy tale musical attached to the Shrek franchise, you have to go big or go home. In a Broadway show, budget is especially important. It was clear that a lot of effort was put into transforming the actors from human to creature, and occasionally, back again.What could have worked better:Donkey. I just didn't see a whole lot of reason for his existence in the musical. Not a whole lot was added and he seemed to be around solely for the purpose of fan service. But then, I've never been totally won over by Donkey in the movies, so this could just be negative bias.The scenery. I felt that the sets were often much darker (without light) than needed. Unless they really had to cover up machinery, I could find little justification for the darkness on stage. Some scenes, especially the lava bridge scene, could have really done with some more light. For example, the lava bridge scene had smoke effects and decent coloring on the backdrop, but the floor was completely black. I would have liked seeming some lava representation.What didn't work:Almost anything to do with the peripheral fairy tale characters. These guys were all such fun in the movies, but were turned into nothing but excuses for lame jokes and annoying voices. I had a mild sense of dread every time these guys appeared on stage. Their song "Story of My Life" is annoying and forgettable, while the song the musical tries to peddle as an individuality anthem, "Freak Flag," is bland and feels like an undeserved spectacle.Pinocchio becoming the spokesman of the fairy tale creatures was also irksome. While the actor did a very good impersonation of the character, the character's voice is far too shrill to be featured so often. Still, as stated previously, what worked, whenever it worked, was really wonderful and fun. Other strong parts of the show include "Big, Bright, Beautiful World", and "Things Are Looking Up in Duloc." In spite of it's weaknesses, I would definitely recommend this show to fans of Shrek and musical theater alike.