Musical Review: Shrek the Musical

 
Shrek The Musical
Starring Brian D'Arcy James, Sutton Foster, Christopher Sieber, and Daniel Breaker
First, I must say that I do love the Shrek films; well, maybe "love" is a strong word. I LOVE the first film, LIKED the second film, and surprised there was a third. I shall say that I was challenged to view Shrek the Musical from two friends of mine. I love musicals however, I will say that I feel Broadway has gotten carried away. I'm a firm believer that not EVERY film should be a musical and not EVERY musical should be a film, so where does Shrek the Musical fall? Personally, the films should not have been touched. This may be entertaining for children however I had many problems with this. One such problem is the music. A successful musical needs to have memorable songs or even a singular song that stands out. I did not find any of the music catchy or memorable. The one song that caught my attention was the cast cover of "I'm A Believer" which was originally sung by Smash Mouth at the end of the film though Donkey showed some great promise bringing the song to its climax, serenading his dragon love. 
This being said, it doesn't mean the cast wasn't up to par. My favorite was Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad. He was energetic, funny, and extremely athletic to be down on his knees in order to portray Farquaad's SHORT comings, if you will. What? I couldn't help myself! 
Unfortunately, I didn't feel that Brian D'Arcy James or Daniel Breaker could recapture the likeness of Mike Myers's Shrek and Eddie Murphy's Donkey. Though they are big shoes to fill, I don't feel it is entirely their fault as I find the songs and some of the dialogue lacking compared to the film. Sutton, on the other hand, captured Fiona's spunk perfectly..."perfectly, flawless Fiona". 
I know this review is short but I would not want to drag this on any longer than I have to. It wasn't painful watching the musical but for me, it is simply a one night stand. If you want to entertain your kids with a musical, I think you're better off placing them in front of the Wiggles or just replay the original Shrek film a few thousand times, they will tire of it eventually. I beg of you Broadway, find an ORIGINAL idea. Outshine Hollywood instead of making a musical out of successful films and/or franchises. It's just not meant to be.


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