By Dylan Warren
Shrek The Musical, The Lied Center for Performing Arts, February 29, 2024
Shrek: The Musical is a musical retelling of the original Shrek film. It comes complete with the same gaseous meta-humor the original film has with its own fun and modern stage adaptation. However, the show does tell us the same story in its own way.
We do spend a little more time with Lord Farquaad, hearing his story through song, along with a proper introduction of the fairy tale creatures in the beginning of the show.
The show is also replete with its own high belting numbers such as “Big Bright Beautiful World” and “Morning Person,” along with some pleasant and fun duets such as “I Think I Got You Beat” and “Travel Song.” All of which play into the magical uniqueness of this stage adaptation.
One of the things I enjoyed the most was the production design. The set itself had a cartoony storybook approach which helped with the lighthearted tone of the show. I particularly liked watching the time-of-day change using the sun to lower and rise with the lighting change.
The production uses puppets at different points in the show either as scuttling forest creatures or for Shrek and Fiona’s character backstories which I quite enjoyed. Even though I enjoyed it on my own, I heartily recommend this show for the whole family as I could hear parents and children all around me laughing with the well-placed jokes and lines repurposed from the original film. This stage production is just as effective as the original movie at creating a great experience for anyone.
If you go: Shrek the Musical runs at The Lied Center February 29 to March 3, 2024. Tick information can be found at https://www.liedcenter.org.
Dylan Warren is a local prop master and actor, as well as a graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in theater and film design.
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