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Something stirring in the swamp
Shrek – The Musical
Birmingham Hippodrome
*****
CAN you believe it’s 14 years since DreamWorks very own jolly green
giant, or at least their big friendly ogre, first hit our screens?
And now he’s back in a larger than life,
genuinely family musical. But
don’t worry if you have never seen the film or its sequels and thought
Shrek was some hip name for a breakfast cereal, this is a fun musical
that not only stands, but positively dances on its own two feet – don’t
miss the Pied Piper and the tap dancing rats. There is plenty to amuse the
children – you can’t go wrong with bodily functions –and plenty of two
tier humour to give adults a laugh on one level and and kids a smile on
the other, not always the easiest trick in the book, but pulled off here
in style. Grown-up themes are there,
they just don’t get in the way of a simple storyline which will appeal
to children of all ages. The story is simple, Shrek is
an ogre living happily and peacefully in a lonely sort of way in a swamp
until a storybookful of fairytale characters exiled from the
city
of Duloc, ruled by the evil, and credit where credit is due, the also
very funny, Lord Farquaad. With his Swamp turned into a
fairytale housing estate Shrek, who has picked up a wisecracking donkey
along the way, goes to Dulac and does a deal with his Lordship – rescue
a princess locked in a tower protected by a fire breathing, and as it
turns out, soul singing dragon, bring
the princess back to marry Farquaar and Shrek
can have the deeds to the swamp and evict the exiled
stotybook characters. Simple. Except that among the fun
there is also a love story and a morality tale, something about not
judging a book by its cover, love being blind, and taking people for
what they are and not how they look. Gerard Careyas Lord Farquaar - he's the one in the middle You can’t argue with the
sentiment, or indeed the presentation with a high energy, fast paced
show with scenes sliding in and out, up and down seamlessly in Tim
Hatley’s colourful, comic book style design. Dean Chisnall must have played
Shrek so often he must be in danger of turning green, two years in the
West End, a year on tour and a year to go. Not that he is alone. On Faye
Brookes last visit to Birmingham we described her performance as Elle
Woods in Legally Blonde as faultless, and nothing has really
changed as Princess Fiona. She is just superb -
sassy, bossy, a bit vulnerable underneath the feisty image,
and what a voice. Gerard Carey turns in a comic
gem as Lord Farquaad, which looks simple but must be a remarkably
physically demanding role. His timing is immaculate at times showing the
comic power of the pause. And for wisecracking fun we
have Idriss Kargbo as Donkey in a streetwise,
or should that be swampwise, performance of laughs with a bit of R&B
throw in. The film, which was based on
New Yorker cartoonist William Steig’s 1990 fairytale picture book, poked
a little gentle fun at other fairy stories and children’s films, mainly
Disney, such as Peter Pan and Snow White – twice - and the
stage show adds a few more references including The Lion King and
even Les Miserables.
There are some good special
effects, such as the animated gingerbread man and a wonderful, soul
singing dragon which fills the stage. All right you can see the
puppeteers, but who cares, the effect is spectacular – a giant flying
dragon that sings with a backing group of knights in stocks – don’t ask. Around the four leads is an
excellent ensemble who are knights villagers, fairytale characters and
anything else needed – backstage must be controlled chaos with all the
costume changes. The 12 strong orchestra under musical director
David Rose is big for a touring show, and it shows with a full sound –
and little snatches, here and there, of themes from some famous movies
if you listen carefully. Directed by Nigel Harman and with music
by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, this
really is a fun show for all ages. To 24-04-15 Roger Clarke
01-14-15 Shrek - The Musical is also at The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton Sept 30 - 11 Oct
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