Review: SHREK The Musical

SHREK The Musical opened for the very First time in Singapore as part of its International tour! We were most glad to have caught this highly entertaining show mid this week. It was after watching this musical that I think they have brilliantly chosen a great film for live adaption. Great film adapted by professional crews and casts equates World Class production. It's truly spectacular, or some say Shrektacular!

STORY

When a green ogre named Shrek discovered his swamp had been 'swamped' with all sorts of fairytale creatures by the scheming Lord Farquaad, Shrek sets out with a very loud donkey by his side to 'persuade' Farquaad to give him his swamp back. Instead, a deal is made. Lord Farquaad will give the fairy tale characters their homes back, if Shrek rescues Princess Fiona. Shrek obliges, yet finds something appealing about this pretty princess. He likes her!

MUSICAL

The casts were extremely professional. Every single one of  them. A show would be flat if there wasn't a team of outstanding cast. It's Broadway we're talking about, anyway. Ogre buried under that layer of green was played by Kyle Timson (@kylertimson). His voice, accent, act and expressions were so much like that in the film. Princess Fiona played by Lindsay Estelle Dunn is another memorable role with its fiesty and sassy character. Gentle and dainty aren't in her dictionary, as she defines 'princess' in a whole new way. In this musical exclusive, you can catch the pair taking each other on a burping and farting challenge. Yes, you read me right. It was hysterically hilarious!

Photo credit: Base Entertainment

And if you ask which was our favourite character, we would all agree it was the Donkey, played by Jared Howelton. Chatty, noisy and yakking non stop made him one extremely candid fellow on stage. And seriously, his animated voice sounded even more like that one in the film. The rapport he has with Shrek on stage is way too engaging and funny. Current jokes included!

Oh oh, and Lord Farquaad, played by Christian Marriner, was one cute guy too! Do evil and cute even go together? In the show perhaps. If you think he is permanently 4 feet tall, then you are wrong. He shrank from 6 feet, just for the show. Looking like a tough role in there.

Photo credit: Base Entertainment

The songs sang in this musical aren't all the same as that in the movie. They were specially written for this musical with intelligent lyrics. One song that impressed us the most was that sang by the dragon titled, Forever. Her powerful voice was astounding! I know dragon doesn't speak in the film, but in this adaption, she did!

We love that extras were added in without taking anything away form the original. This has been beautifully adapted.

 

 

INTERESTING FACTS

• 60 Scene changes based on LED image and set changes
• It takes 10 containers to transport the set and equipment from city to city
• There are 20 carts of costumes
• There are 5 carts of wigs
• Each wig is hand crafted for each actor and each hair is individually sewn into the delicate lace
• Each wig can take anywhere from 4 to 20 man hours to complete
• The green make up used for ogres was exclusively created and used for the show and is called 'Ogre Green' 
• It takes about 1.5 hours to get Ogre's make up on

OGRE

We do know a little something about Shrek. If you ask where he would like to go in Singapore, he would say, the Botanic Gardens! Maybe that's the closest he can get to feeling like in a swamp. Oh, and one more, can you guess which fairy tale character he likes most? It's the Pinocchio! That's because he's just like him, accepting himself for who he is. That's one we should learn positively from Ogre.

While Js caught SHREK 2 and 3, they didn't catch part 1. The adaption is based on part 1 story. So it doesn't matter if you've caught the film or not. That's because, you are likely to go on a SHREK movie marathon right after the musical.  

This is one we highly recommend not just for kids, but for any grown ups. It was a real delight and better than we thought. Not just for the story, casts and songs, but the stage set and lavish costumes were perfectly crafted too! Everything was of World class standard. 

It will be one lovely, funny and hilarious show that will crack up your week and send you feeling elated after watching. We enjoyed it very much and not one single moment did we feel bore by it. Nope, I did not have fidgety kids.

Catch it before it closes on 19 June 2016! Get tickets here. 

Event Date

08 to 19 June 2016 
Tue to Fri: 7.30pm
Sat: 2pm and 7.30pm
Sun: 1pm and 6pm

Venue

Grand Theatre, MasterCard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands

Ticket Pricing

(Excludes Booking Fee)

VIP Reserve : S$175

A Reserve : S$155

B Reserve : S$125

C Reserve : S$95

D Reserve : S$65

VIP Box (For 4 seats): S$700

Disclaimer: Tickets were given for the purpose of this review. All opinions and photos, unless credited are solely ours.