Review: SHREK: THE MUSICAL at Albuquerque Little Theatre

SHREK: The Musical - Fun for Everyone

Albuquerque Little Theatre March 16, 2019

It's hard to be an ogre - the whole world fears your green skin and gruff exterior, you're banished to live in a smelly swamp, and now, to top things off, the ruler of Duloc has thrown a whole bunch of fairytale freaks your way to crowd your space. What's an ogre to do? Such is the predicament that begins SHREK: The Musical, playing now through March 31 at Albuquerque Little Theater.

Shrek, played by ALT regular Jason Wiley, gets a deal from Lord Farquaad, Duloc's vertically challenged leader (fantastic performance by Nicholas Laemmer - who definitely has the most challenging mode of locomotion of anyone in the show) - rescue Princess Fiona from the dragon, bring her to Duloc, and Farquaad will remove the fairytale characters - a ragtag bunch including Pinocchio, the three bears, Peter Pan and Humpty Dumpty, among others - and give Shrek back his peace and quiet. Shrek agrees and heads towards Fiona's tower. Along the way he meets Donkey, played with great panache by Paul Ashby - you may have seen Paul as Benny in In the Heights at Musical Theater Southwest last summer - his portrayal of Donkey is a feat of physical and vocal prowess.

Fiona is a princess living under a curse - and under lock and key in a tower guarded by a giant pink dragon (a beautiful piece of stagecraft!). She keeps hoping that her true love will rescue her, bestow true love's kiss upon her and lift the curse. Christine Smith's Fiona strikes the right balance of Disney princess and cynical woman who's been burned before. Her first song, "I Know It's Today," is cleverly staged and sets the tone for what's to come.

As they rescue the princess and begin a road trip to get her to her "prince" Farquaad. Many surprises are revealed along the way, including Fiona's hilarious "Morning Person," complete with wildlife, Shrek revealing his feelings for Fiona to Donkey and Fiona revealing a bigger secret to Donkey as well. Donkey tells Shrek to "Make a Move" on Fiona, but he is too shy. Wiley's interpretation of "When Words Fail," a ballad expressing Shrek's love for Fiona, is his high point of the show.

Meanwhile, in the swamp, the disgruntled fairytale crew decides that they are going to go back to Duloc to confront Farquaad. They're tired of being discriminated against due to their nonconformities, and decide to let their "Freak Flag" fly. The ensemble is excellent - each character seems fully formed and they work together seamlessly in several well-choreographed vocal and dance numbers.

All comes to a fever pitch as Fiona prepares to wed Farquaad, discovers Shrek's feelings for her, the fairytale freaks storm the wedding and chaos ensues. Fiona realizes that the curse can't be lifted by marrying Farquaad, and that her true love has been right beside her all along. As all good fairy tales do, this one ends with everyone living happily ever after (except Lord Farquaad....if you've seen the Pixar film you know what happens to him).

Albuquerque Little Theatre's production is a delight - big props to Director Brian Clifton, Choreographer Peter Bennett, Scenic Designers Glenn Pepe, Henry Avery and Thane Kenny and Costume Designer Joe Moncada - for bringing such a high level of professionalism to a local stage. Kudos as well to the entire ensemble, whose ceaseless energy and enthusiasm drives this show. I will echo one plea made by a member of the ALT board at the start of the show - please donate to help this theatre get a better sound system. They really deserve for the amplification to match the high quality of the production!

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