Shrek the Musical

“Delightful” isn’t a word I use very often. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever used it. It may be a little too lighthearted for my tastes. However, after seeing Shrek the Musical at the Arizona Broadway Theatre last night, I find that “delightful” is the only way to describe it. “Double Delightful” is twice as accurate. I wasn’t sure what we’d be seeing. I remember the animated films about Shrek and the Eddie Murphy version of Shrek’s friend, the donkey. But a musical? Not only was it a musical, it was a delightful sight for sore eyes, with a set that had to be seen to be believed, with costuming I wouldn’t have thought possible, with clever choreography. The score didn’t contain any songs I was familiar with except for the closing, “I’m a Believer,” and the voices were good but not great. But they didn’t need to be. This was a visual treat. There was Shrek (played by Jason Simon, who gave us the unforgettable Tevye in ABT’s Fiddler on the Roof) in his pullover Shrek mask complete with horns, Donkey with big butt and hooves, fourteen ensemble members portraying an assortment of fairy tale characters

from Pinocchio (complete with nose that grew) to Humpty Dumpty, the three bears, a sugar plum fairy and an ugly duckling, and an itty bitty gingerbread man, to name only a few. But the most delightful, the funniest of all, was the costume for Lord Farquaad, the ever so tiny villain of the piece. When he first appeared onstage, I couldn’t figure out how they’d found someone so small, so short (only about three feet tall) to play this part. It soon became apparent that the tiny Lord was a man walking around on his knees, his bottom half hidden by a voluminous cape, the front of him sporting tiny little legs that stomped around and occasionally danced. Delightfully hilarious. When Shrek and Donkey were on their quest to rescue Fiona from her tower prison so that she could marry evil Farquaad and Shrek could get back his swampy land that Farquaad held, they encountered the Dragon that guarded her. The dragon made its entrance from the rear of the theater and through the audience to the stage, a fifteen-foot dragon complete with flashing red eyes, carried by four handlers such as you might see at a Chinese festival parade. Delightful. And Donkey fell in love with it/her and it/she allowed Shrek and Donkey to continue to the tower to save Fiona. After seeing last month the first half of Rock of Ages and then walking out in disgust, I can now say I’d be happy, maybe even doubly delighted, to see Shrek the Musical again tonight.