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'Shrek: The Musical' is a delightful adaptation of the beloved animated film

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“Shrek: The Musical,” the stage adaptation of the first chapterin the juggernaut computer-animated franchise, jumps into real spacesatisfyingly and believably, exploding with towering musical numbers, jaw-droppingpuppet work and fantastical costumes. It also achieves the rare feat of beingevery last bit as good as its source material.

“Fairy tales should really be updated,” says one of the maincharacters, giving the fourth wall a good old fashioned wobble. If only theycould all be modernized this well.

The first “Shrek” movie’s eye-popping visuals andtongue-in-cheek meta jokes rewrote traditional notions of both fairy tales andanimated movies. Its unique humor appealed to both kids and their parents, whohad grown cynical of traditional Disney treacliness. “Shrek the Musical” sharesall of that cross-generational appeal and sufficiently continues to distanceitself from Mouse House fare. A good chunk of that credit can be attributed to theabundant fart jokes, which really have room to, ahem, breathe live on stage. Itis also now able to add the modern Broadway musicals to its list of targets.

The stage adaptation is unfortunately saddled with theho-hum plot of its movie parent (rescue the princess, belch, repeat) but writerDavid Lindsay-Abaire has used the thin script as a framework to craft inspirednew songs. The music by Jeanine Tesori (“Caroline, or Change”) pays mockinghomage to “The Lion King,” “The Producers” and “Wicked”—even as it approachesthe soaring greatness of each one. Yes, the music really is that good.

As a family-oriented, musical fantasy/comedy, special careneeds to be taken to make the audience comfortable in this yeah-right world. Theopening songs, “Big Bright Beautiful World” and “Story of My Life” do justthat, transporting the audience into the land of Duloc, where fairy talecharacters freely interact with each other. “Welcome to Duloc”/“What’s Up Duloc,”introduce us to Lord Farquaad, a mesmerizing love-to-hate villain played todelicious camp by David F.M. Vaughn (dancing on his knees, no less). “Forever”plays as a cousin to “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” a pulse-poundingtorch song that will woo even the most heart-hardened. But it is Shrek’s own“Build a Wall,” a throwing-down-the-gauntlet ballad in the vein of “Les Miz,” whichserves as the heart and soul of this production.

As Shrek, Eric Petersen lumbers across the stage menacinglyenough. His electric green head and barrel-sized chest make it nearlyimpossible to take your eyes off him. As an ogre, he’s not supposed to beparticularly good on his feet — and he isn’t. Instead, a bevy of back-up dancersand a strong supporting cast provide the more impressive choreography. Severalnumbers, including “Freak Flag,” “This is Our Story” and the tap-dance-heavy“Morning Person” keep the audience locked in between plot points.

Each of the fairy tale characters, particularly Pinocchio (BlakelySlaybaugh) and Gingy (voiced by Aymee Garcia), feels fleshed out in theiralternate-alternate universe embodiments: Pinnochio is a pathological liar,Gingy is a cranky micro-midget. Haven Burton as Fiona holds her own against themore physically dominating Shrek and Donkey (Alan Mingo, Jr.), and she quicklyand easily morphs from dainty princess to squirrel gut-snarfing slob and back.But this was all Vaughn’s show: Farquaad had the funniest songs, the mostinventive dance numbers, and best lines, all delivered with fun melodramaticflair. Just watching him dance around on his comically spindly prop legs wasworth the trip.

Finally, Emily Cramer deserves big credit forher role as the off-screen voice of Dragon, whose timber-rattling “Forever” isthe highlight of the show. You can practically feel the dragon-fire heat withthat number.

"Shrek: The Musical"
Through Feb. 13
Wharton Center
$32.50-$67.50
(800) WHARTON
www.whartoncenter.com


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