Shrek The Musical

As far as the music itself is concerned, Shrek the Musical may not be the best-written musical in the world, but if affection for the 2001 animated classic that was displayed by the enormous cast is a yardstick by which to measure, then this latest Townsville Choral Society production has it in quids.

I must admit to have been a little apprehensive to see how this would be “musicalised”, having been exposed so often to the movie by my children, but it was all there.  Everything from the flatulent green ogre with the bad breath to the verbose donkey, the “out-there” 21^st century princess, the campy diminutive villain, and send-ups of just about every fairy-tale character you ever remember!

Transforming a film on to stage always represents a challenge, and much more so when it is an reworking of a non-musical animated movie remembered with a great deal of affection. The script for this would have to have been compulsorily over the top and pantomimic. And this is what it was.

Amidst the colour and organised chaos, contemporary jokes, plenty of good humour, colourful costumes, oblique references to Broadway musicals and a creative contemporary set, this production by first time director Lindsay Nobile was delivered with such an infectious joie de vivre that it overcame all my apprehensions.  The cast all looked as if they were having so much fun that it would have been difficult not to be caught up in the spirit of it all.

And it is the cast that made it. With a principal cast of seven and ensemble of 81, simply co-ordinating the cast was a feat in itself. Their vocal power was without doubt, set to choreography by Lynda Tama, with brilliant costuming co-ordinated by Katherine Shield and her 13-strong team.

Of course, the most memorable aspect of the animated film is the creation of the characters’ voices. The director clearly sought as far as possible to recreate this, and in this department I was not disappointed.

Hats off to Richard Brown his Shrek. Creating a character when you are hampered with a green latex mask would present something of a challenge for any actor, and more so when Mike Myers created such a definitive Scottish character. Brown created an Irish version, but it also worked.  

I really liked Madison Tomarchio’s Princess Fiona – an impressive and confident vocal range and she evidently relished playing the feistiness that one expects of a 21^st century princess. I am sure Townsville will seeing significantly more of this talented actress after her first major role.

Of course Donkey is almost indivisible with Eddie Murphy, but actor Charlie Nicholas not only cheerfully evoked memories of the originator, but he also managed to make the role his own. He was outstanding as the garrulous Donkey, playing it with a great sense of timing.

David Lequerica’s Lord Farquaad has got to be the actor’s role in any production of this musical, and he took advantage of every fun opportunity as the vertically-challenged son of one of the seven dwarfs!  Preserving the illusion of being so short was well done (I hope he had sufficient knee pads) - all impeccably timed and delivered as if he was having the time of his life.

The exceptional vocal performance of the night must be reserved for the bluesy, gutsy Deborah O’Toole as the Dragon. Her voice simply soared and had me wanting to hear more (I am sure we will). Special mention must also be made of the creation of the dragon itself and the 12 puppeteers that brought this to life. I had wondered how the dragon would be created, but the stage convention of an actor playing a puppet was easily accommodated and credible. (After all, Avenue Q is a whole musical with this in mind.)

Sam Stewart as Pinocchio was great fun – accurately re-creating the high pitched voice, as did Josie Power as Gingy, the Gingerbread Man.  

And as for the rest of the fairy-tale characters: there were three blind mice as a 60s girl group (complete with blonde wigs and heart-shaped sunnies); a cross-dressing Big Bad Wolf; Peter Pan, The Three Bears; the Fairy Godmother, the Wicked Witch and so it goes on.

If I did have a quibble it would be a minor one in the broad scheme of things. With such a plethora of fairy-tale characters on stage, it was difficult to recognise (and identify with) them all. Perhaps the director could have given some consideration to pointing the audience’s attention by orchestrating the staging differently so we could catch more definitive glimpses of this. The cow jumping over the moon sequence is a case in point as this was lost at the back of the stage (my companion completely missed it). Ultimately though this did not detract from the overall entertainment of the production.

Thankfully, the finale was a rousing, affectionate and thoroughly infectious rendition of the one song everyone knew - “I’m a Believer”. Fans of the film will remember as being one of its outstanding moments. (I remember back in 2001 my kids thinking it as a “new” song. Well, I’ll have you know…)

You have to simply sit back and enjoy it for it is – entertaining good fun for the whole family – just as the movie was.

My final advice? Grab the kids and take them along (probably most suitable for 8 +) and if you don’t have any offspring, seize your nearest available one so you can go along and become a kid all over again!

Trevor Keeling