Shrek The Musical is a modern day romantic tale with a twist that tells the story of real friendship, true love, sorted life lessons, with misguided fairy tale misfits, lots of laughter and upbeat music, a green ogre and his sidekick donkey, a feisty princess, a lonely fearless dragon – and of course a happy ending everyone looks for in a fairy tale. Shrek The Musical indeed delivers.
Shrek The Musical, a modern day fairy tale based on the children's book by William Steig and the DreamWorks Animation film, Shrek, the first chapter of the Shrek movie series, is only in town through Sunday at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.
The poor unloved abandoned ogre, Shrek (played by Lukas Poost) with a gruff exterior but who has a heart of gold that shines through like bling on a Christmas tree lives a simple swamp life until it's disrupted by Disney spoof misfits such as Pinocchio (played by Luke Yellin), the Three Little Pigs (played by Lyonel Reneau, Ryan Everett Wood and Chris Woods), a Fairy Godmother (played by Erin Sullivan), a witch (played by Susan Leilani Gearou) and Peter Pan (played by Chase Todd).
In his adventures to meet up with Lord Farquaad (played by Merritt David Janes) Shrek meets up with destined best friend and sidekick Donkey (played by André Jordan) who is a charming chatterbox wisecrack, and a dragon (played by Kelly Teal Goyette) whom he must slay.
And modern day slay he does when he rescues Princess Fiona (played by Liz Shivener) from her 20-year captivity in the castle. Princess Fiona is a bit feisty however as 20 years of waiting will do that to a girl, almost making her appear bipolar, so mixed with Shrek's impatience and unpolished heroism things get a little chaotic.
With adventure and humorous mayhem, conversation and swamp grub over campfire, life lessons in friendship and love, a few toots and burps laced with laughter and merry song the trio finally make it back to Farquaad’s castle, where Fiona is fated to merry her true love – maybe once she figures out who that is. Shrek The Musical indeed promises to deliver more than just a happy ending.
And so as the musical fairy tale story goes, as life sometimes does – it can be difficult enough as it is without adding to it – and according to Lukas in an interview with him, the secret is living life.
When it comes to dating and love, don’t ever give up hope. I found out it takes Lucas 15 minutes to get into costume for his leading role as Shrek, which is about average for a date (for a man, that is). Makeup however is a different story – that takes almost two hours. So remember, have some patience as date preparation may be a piece of cake compared to someone who looks through eyes of green. And Shrek did have some advice for Examiner readers (changing his voice to Shrek’s when he answered): "Even ogres like dating. It isn't easy being green, but all you gotta do is take a bath."
Take that any way you like it folks, a nice long bubble bath perhaps before heading out on that special date with that special someone – Shrek, Princess Fiona and Donkey style (without a care in the world except to enjoy present company). So check out their website for a date when Shrek The Musical will be performing near you and take your date to see it.
As always good luck in your dating ventures, don’t take life too seriously, smile, be safe and for goodness sakes have some fun.
“Do you think maybe he’s compensating for something?” –Shrek to Donkey (while looking at Lord Farquaad’s castle)
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Performance and misc. info:
Although Shrek was touring San Jose in 2011, Shrek can be seen in other states through the beginning of 2012; check the website for performance dates near you and stay tuned for their return to the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts (located at 255 Almaden Blvd.).
Shrek The Musical is based on the story and characters from William Steig's book Shrek! and the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek, the first chapter of the Shrek movie series. Featuring book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner and multiple Tony Award nominee David Lindsay-Abaire, and music by Olivieir Award Winner and multiple Tony Award nominee Jeanine Tesori, sets and costumes based on Tony Award winner designs by Tim Hatley, and choreography by Josh Prince. There are so many other cast members (too many to list) but they were all fantastic. Shrek The Musical really is a must-see.
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