In the words of the Monkees song that brings Shrek to a rousing, send-them-home singing finale I’m A Believer!
I’m a believer in the ability of a film to be turned into a successful musical stage show. How? By sticking to the main characters from the film, injecting just enough new humorous material to keep children of all ages entertained, throw in some average but quite pleasant songs and, oh yeah, plenty of farts.
The show is Wales Millennium Centre’s Christmas show and runs throughout the festive season as lover of the Dreamworks movie that tells the tael of the love-sick grumpy green ogre (here played with panache by Dean Chisnall complete with that always peculiar Scottish accent) and his princess who thinks true love’s kiss will stop her turning into a monster when night falls. Of course, it works the other way round and she remains an ogre in daylight. Princess Fiona appears as a child, a young adult and finally at the age she is in the film, I tried to calculate her age from the song where she says how many days she has been waiting for her prince to come and then add seven (the age she is hidden away in the tower) but I gave up.
The musical has an introduction where a huge book is opened and Shrek’s parents appear and the toddler ogre. At a predestined age he is sent out to the big smelly world on his own. Then the book closes and reopens and the same background story is presented for Fiona, only she is sent off to that tower.
Then we move to the “now” with the ogre’s quiet life in his own swamp ruined when the evil Lord Farquaad banishes all of those “freaks”, the fairytale characters that the children will love to see live on stage to Shrek’s smelly, damp domain. So we have Little Red Ridinghood, Peter Pan, Ugly Duckling, the Three Pigs and the Three Bears, Sugar Plum Fairy, Wicked Witch and their squeaky leader Pinocchio played by Will Jennings. A funky Three Blind Mice also appear.
Shrek can only get rid of them and restore peace and quiet by finding the Princess who is the object of Lord Farquaad’s desires as he tries to take over the kingdom. In return he is promised ownership of the swamp. Of course Shrek needs a companion so he is joined by that donkey with soul, played by Idriss Kargbo as he travels to rescue the feisty and no-nonsense Princess, played by Bronté Barbé. That means tackling a fire-breathing dragon whom it turns out, is also looking for a soul mate.
Despite the popular fart comedy (and a fart and burping song) the most genuinely funny scenes didn’t really come from Shrek but from the baddie, the short Lord Farquaad (played by Cardiff-born Gerard Carey) who performs on his knees with two pretend little legs in yellow tights. His dance routines, panto villain scenes and general jollity, made the whole musical worthwhile and not just a film turned into a stage show.
The other most enjoyable aspect of the show as that dragon, a wonderful creation that floats in the air held up by puppet masters in black clothes, giving that illusion of flight. The Dragon’s singing voice was from Candace Furbert (she also plays the Fairy Godmother) who appears for the curtain call and well deserved the applause.
Lady Gaga’s Born this Way could have been the theme tune for the musical with the messages that it is good to be a freak and that beauty isn’t skin deep – in fact there is no need to be beautiful, or able bodied, or even human. Yes, you can be a singing Gingerbread Man and still live happily ever after in this alternative wonderland. As the most funny character, as already noted, is Lord Farquaad and that is based on being short, presumably that is one physical attribute it is acceptable to ridicule. Odd.
Wales Millennium Centre
Until January 10.