BWW Reviews: SHREK Soars at Broadway San Jose Now Thru September 25th

The national tour of Shrek the Musical, in all its gassy green glory, opened Broadway San Jose's new season and captivated the audience from start to finish. Hilariously funny and heart-warming, Shrek's musical message about friendship, love and acceptance, delivered with the story's trademark unconventional quirkiness, soared.

This fabulous fable finds the solitary Shrek (played with Scottish brogue brilliance by Lukas Poost) embarking on a journey from his satisfyingly smelly swamp to the palace of vertically challenged and foppishly fiendish Lord Farquaad (delightful Merrit David Janes). Farquaad has exiled all those he considers freaks, namely the fairytale residents of Duloc. They have been unceremoniously dumped in Shrek's swamp, making it necessary for him to travel to the kingdom to demand their removal. Joined on his journey by a wise-cracking donkey, this unlikely hero ultimately fights a fearsome dragon, rescues a feisty princess and discovers along the way that "what makes us different makes us special."

David Lindsay-Abaire, who picked up two Tony nominations for Best Book and Lyrics for "Shrek" gives us the previously untold parallel back stories of 7-year-old Shrek, who is cast out on his own by his ogre parents, and 7-year-old Princess Fiona (the brilliant Liz Shivener) who is consigned to a castle tower there to await true love's first kiss, as all of her fairytale books tell her to expect. In a sweet and touching number, "I Know It's Today" we see hopeful Fiona as a child (Alexa Kerner shares the role with Rachel Khutorsky), then as a teenager (Schuyler Midgett) and then finally as a young lady still waiting for her perfect prince to arrive on his noble steed to rescue her from her terrible tower.

Shivener has come into her own in this production bringing a dynamic energy and charm to the role of the naïve princess - who isn't quite sure what to make of her green knight and his donkey steed. Whether dancing with rats, out high-noting a bluebird or trying to best the ogre over who had the worst childhood in the song "I Think I Got You Beat," she is dazzling. And her chemistry with Poost is undeniable. Poost, who undergoes a 90-minute transformation (Make-up Design Naomi Donne) to become the big green ogre, imbues his character with heart and humor even under the layers of prosthetics and make-up.

Tim Hatley's original scenic design has undergone some adaptation (James Kronzer) and something is lost in the touring company's necessarily pared down version. It's understood that they're dealing with stages of varying sizes, but it's hard to suspend reality when you can see the trees stage left and right in one of the castle scenes. During our performance the sun, which plays an integral part in the plotline, had a gaping notch it, which served to draw attention away from the story. That said the technical flaws are masked by fine performances.

One of those is from André Jordan who is a joy to behold as Shrek's neurotically vulnerable, wise-cracking 4-legged companion, Donkey. He makes the most of a one-trick pony part with impeccable timing and wonderful comedic expression. It is Donkey who knows more about friendship and loyalty than Shrek and Fiona combined. His big number (Forever) with the big fire-breathing dragon (voiced wonderfully by Kelly Teal Goyette) is fantastic.

The giant she-dragon, whose eyes go from fiery to flirty when she spies Donkey, is a masterpiece in puppetry. She is a sheer delight as she swoops and spins, wings flapping and tail whipping around to capture her new love/possible meal, Donkey.

Shrek the Musical makes a solid case that "fairytales should really be updated," and that "beautiful isn't always pretty." Coarse jokes, fart fests and tap-dancing rats do much to ensure the revision. A twist on true love's first kiss as well as the happily-ever-after ending also help, making this show refreshingly subversive, hugely entertaining and undeniably funny. One week only so go while you can.

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Shrek the Musical
WHEN: September 20-25, 2011
SHOWS: 7:30 pm Tuesday - Thursday
8pm Friday 2pm and 8pm Saturday 1pm and 6pm Sunday
WHERE: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts
255 Almaden Blvd, San Jose
TICKETS: Single tickets ($20-$82) can be purchased by calling (408) 792-4111 or visiting www.sjtix.com.
Photo credit: Joan Marcus

 

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