OKLAHOMA CITY—Celebrity Attractions opened its 2010-11 season with the national tour of Shrek the Musical a musical based on the popular movie Shrek.
The show first opened on Broadway to some raised eyebrows. This isn’t your typical broadway show: giant ogre, talking donkey and bathroom humor. But for all intents and purposes, it works.
The show stays pretty true to the movie it was based on. Shrek’s swamp becomes overrun with mythical storybook creatures and he wants them off his land. To do this he must meet with the diminutive Lord Farquaad who makes a deal to give him his land back if he can rescue Princess Fiona so that Farquaad can finally become a King.
David F.M. Vaughn (Farquaad), Gingy and Keven Quillon (Guard). © 2010 DreamWorks Theatricals
Along Shrek’s journey he encounters Donkey who much like the movie never stops talking.
Fiona has been waiting everyday for someone to rescue her, but doesn’t quite have Shrek in mind. Throw in a curse, a wedding and some guys controlling a giant dragon and you have Shrek the Musical.
Like the movie taking shots at other Disney fairy tales, the stage production takes shots at other Broadway shows like Wicked, Les Miserables and The Lion King.
It couldn’t be an easy task to translate an animated to feature to the stage, but some stunts don’t quite translate. Gingy is a puppet controlled by Aymee Garcia who also plays Mama Bear. The problem is that Garcia holds up the puppet and literally talks as Gingy. Could they not have someone else control the puppet and have Garcia voice the cookie offstage?
David F.M. Vaughn (Farquaad) steals the show. He does the old gag of being on his knees with shoes and legs connected to his legs. This stunt provides the most laughs and must be painful. But Vaugh’s performance isn’t just funny legs. He plays the character to be very vain and completely oblivious to his condition.
Eric Peterson (Shrek) and Alan Mingo, Jr. (Donkey) have good chemistry and do a nice job of performing as the characters without doing too much of an imitation of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy. In fact, to me, Murphy was kind of annoying in the movie and Mingo, Jr. is not. Peterson, of course, has the Scottish accent, but what does he really have to work with?
The show has 19 numbers which is about three too many (you’re going to build a wall, we get it).
Overall, the show is entertaining and a lot of fun. All ages can attend. Many children sat around us and seeing there faces as Shrek came to life in front of their eyes was almost as entertaining as the show.
The show runs through Sunday in Oklahoma City. To purchase tickets click here.
Jason Black is a regular sports contributor on America’s Morning News and coincidently, or not, does movie reviews for KJ103 and102.1 Kissin’ Country. You can also follow Jason on Twitter @jasonblack23.
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