‘Shrek The Musical’ a hit for audiences of all ages

Lord Farquah (Marc Ginsburg) and Fiona (Michelle London).  Photo by Ken Jacques
Lord Farquaad (Marc Ginsburg) and Fiona (Michelle London). Photo by Ken Jacques

 

By Shor M. Masori

Shor Masori
Shor Masori
T.J. Dawson as Shrek (Ken Jacques photo)
T.J. Dawson as Shrek (Ken Jacques photo)

VISTA, California — Shrek The Musical, playing through Aug. 29 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre, is amazing. It features the best special effects and props that I have seen on stage in a very long time. Fiona (Michelle London)had the energy of a bipolar Anna (Frozen) on crack.  Lord Farquaad (Marc Ginsburg) and his horse “Donald Trump” (I’m not making that up) are hilarious. The musical numbers seemed very well placed.

The only real problem I noticed was that sometimes when Shrek (T.J.Dawson) sang he had difficulty maintaining the Mike Myers-inspired Scottish accent of Shrek’s swamp. But, when you sing, you use your vocal chords in a way that makes it difficult to keep up an accent, no matter
who you are so it’s not a big problem.

The play was directed with inspiration by David F.H. Vaughn, who coaxed stellar performances from many members of the cast — not just those of the leads.  Of course there was Donkey, played with Eddie Murphy-like humor by Cornelius Jones Jr, and in addition  shout-outs are due to Janay Byrd, who knocked ’em dead as the singing dragon; Taylor Coleman, who soloed like an old pro as the young, lonesome Fiona trapped in her tower; and Jake Saenz as a self-realizing Pinnochio; (“I’m wood, and I’m good”)

The Moonlight Amphitheatre accommodates as many as 2,000 guests, some in seats, some sitting on the lawn, and some –like the cute preschooler about two seats from me–dancing in the aisles through the entire production. No matter that at times the little children talked to their  mommies or cried, the sound system at the Moonlight Amphitheatre makes it easy to hear what is going on stage, no matter what might be happening in the audience.

I assume that most people know the plot of Shrek, as it was a very popular movie, but here is the way Moonlight Theater reinterpreted it: Shrek is an ogre who has lived alone in a swamp since he was seven years old. He tries to persuade himself that being alone, without anyone to bother him, is a  wonderful life style, but he is only fooling himself.

Then all of a sudden his swamp is invaded by the fairy tale characters we’ve all grown up with. In addition to Pinnochio, there is the Sugar Plum Fairy (Katie Whalley Banville, Who also voiced Gingy the gingerbread man); Mama Bear (Janay Byrd in another of three roles);  Baby Bear (Crystal Cole); Wicked Witch (Alexis DeDonato); Ugly Duckling (Jordan DeLeon); Fairy Godmother (Chelsea Emma Franko); Big Bad Wolf (Danny Hansen); one of three Blind Mice (Rachael Johnson); a dwarf (Hourie Klijian, who also played Young Shrek); Little Pig who built a house of straw (Colden Lamb); the pig who used bricks (Dallas Perry); Peter Pan (David Jesse Sherlock), the pig who built from sticks (Ala Tiatia); and Papa Bear (Edred Utomi). (Rounding out the cast very well indeed were Jaidyn Young as a teen Fiona, and Chaz Feuerstine as the Captain of the Guard.)

Personally I felt that Gingy, who was essentially a board with a puppet gingerbread man on it, was the most unconvincing character in this play because Sugar Plum Fairy spoke for him while moving his body to indicate he was speaking rather than using ventriloquism.

Shrek tries to get all the fairy tale creatures to leave his swamp, but they explain that they can’t — that they have been banished to there by Lord Farquaad. So Shrek decides to confront Farquaad, meeting along his way a donkey whom neither his insults nor his roar can scare away  — his first friend.

My grandfather, SDJW editor Donald Harrison, always likes a Jewish angle in a story, so mine is Ginsburg, who plays the tiny Farquaad, amazingly on his knees with fake legs attached to his waist, and a cape covering his trailing real legs.

As portrayed by Ginsburg, Farquaad is a funny and foppish villain, the kind that makes you smile even though he’s so nasty. In order for him to become king of his late mother’s queendom, he has to marry a princess, who is guarded in her tower by a dragon. Of course, he’s too cowardly to do it himself, so he makes a deal with Shrek.

If Shrek will rescue the Princess Fiona and bring him to her, so that they can be married, then he Lord Farquaad will permit the fairytale creatures to leave Shrek’s swamp. Shrek sets out  fully intending to do so. But in the feisty Fiona, he finds someone more intriguing even than Donkey. Little kids in the audience will grab their bellies laughing, and even tight-lipped parents will indulgently smile as Shrek and Fiona fart and burp their way into the realization that they love each other. Of course, lovers sometimes have their spats…especially when
one keeps a secret from the other…

At least 80 percent of the audience (including grandpa and me) gave Shrek The Musical a standing ovation — with the others perhaps too tired to move as it was nearly 11 p.m. when it ended.. (It started at 8 p.m.) I give this play a score of 10 out of 10. It’s honestly the best musical I’ve ever seen!

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Masori, an entering freshman at Patrick Henry High School in San Diego, is a member of the San Diego Jewish World staff.

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