{"id":359354,"date":"2024-09-22T13:47:27","date_gmt":"2024-09-22T17:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=359354"},"modified":"2024-09-22T13:47:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T17:47:27","slug":"shrek-the-musical-turns-into-childrens-theater-on-tour-at-capital-one-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/09\/22\/shrek-the-musical-turns-into-childrens-theater-on-tour-at-capital-one-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Shrek the Musical’ turns into children’s theater on tour at Capital One Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

As with any screen-to-stage adaptation, Shrek the Musical<\/em> differs significantly from its source material. But it should be evaluated not merely based on what it\u2019s done differently but for what its changes amount to in this new work of art. What particularly fascinates me are the changes that differentiate Shrek the Musical<\/em>\u2019s 2024 non-Equity tour from its original Broadway production: this version comes across as, and was intended to resemble, children\u2019s theater.<\/p>\n

According to Playbill, Shrek the Musical<\/em>\u2019s current national tour is a rewrite<\/a> of the 2008 Broadway production by its original creators, composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist and book writer David Lindsay-Abaire, 16 years after the show originally premiered on Broadway and starred Brian d\u2019Arcy James and Sutton Foster as Shrek and Fiona. After its Broadway production, the musical has had two national Equity tours and three national non-Equity tours, including this one.<\/p>\n

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Nicholas Hambruch as Shrek, Kelly Prendergast as Princess Fiona, and Ensemble in \u2018Shrek the Musical.\u2019 Photo by Jason Anderson\/Pendleton Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rewrite in this tour seems created not to please a corporate overlord but to satisfy a smaller creative team, and this is supported. Upon the opening of the current tour, Lindsay-Abaire described to Playbill<\/a> earlier this year the difficulty of working on a production alongside DreamWorks\u2019 inaugural Broadway venture, saying that although creating the show was a \u201cjoyful\u201d experience, \u201cit was also really hard and awful.\u201d He said that he and Tesori were \u201calways\u2026 crying into each other\u2019s shoulders because it was so hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, in speaking about their reasons for the rewrite, Tesori says that she and Lindsay-Abaire \u201cfelt like there was a leaner version of it\u2026 there was a version that was more us, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

This production seems like children\u2019s theater because some of the new rewrite was inspired by the direction of children\u2019s versions of Shrek the Musical<\/em> Jr.<\/em> In a discussion featured on the current tour\u2019s website about the \u201cAll-New Shrek,\u201d as the video<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0 title describes it, Tesori says that she\u2019s seen many Shrek the Musical Jr.<\/em> productions, and \u201cin one\u2026 they had the group of kids singing a lot of the material, and I went back to David, and I said, \u2018I saw a version of Shrek<\/em> today and if we ever rethink it, we should use our ensemble of people so they can populate this world so that when Shrek is alone, he\u2019s really alone, but when there are a lot of people around\u2026 you know\u2026 that the stage is full and charming and vibrant and colorful.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Director Danny Mefford, who choreographed Dear Evan Hansen<\/em> at its original outing at DC\u2019s Arena Stage, for its Off-Broadway run, and on Broadway, confirmed this inspiration from children\u2019s theater in the same video.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur production is trying to spark the imagination of children, and it is also trying to bring that childish imagination back to all the adults and parents and grandparents that are bringing their children to the show or coming just because they love Shrek,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s attempting to be a celebration of that childlike imagination inside all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not an expert on the children\u2019s theater genre, but a cornucopia of tropes I\u2019ve seen in both original pieces designed for children and for adaptations for \u201cJr.\u201d audiences are present in this production. These include a brighter, more saturated color palette, puppetry, simpler choreography, simpler costumes that can be taken off and on without facepaint or prosthetic changes, simpler tunes with uncomplicated lyrics, simpler themes, simpler jokes designed for a younger audience, and cussing removal. Those who might have disliked Shrek<\/em> for its subversiveness and satirization of Disney will find these traits are far less present in the 2024 U.S. national tour of Shrek the Musical<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s theater genre, then, seems like where Shrek the Musical<\/em> may always have meant to land. Or is it?<\/p>\n

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Naphtali Yaakov Curry as Donkey and Nicholas Hambruch as Shrek in \u2018Shrek the Musical.\u2019 Photo by CyorkPhoto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shrek<\/em> (2001) was initially made as an open rebuke of Disney, the corporate king of children\u2019s entertainment. As Conrad Vernon, storyboard artist on the original film and voice of Gingy, told Polygon<\/a> in 2021, \u201cwe were trying to be edgier, a little dirtier, a little more adult. Jeffrey [Katzenberg] even had a phrase he used to say: Disney appeals to the child in every adult; we appeal to the adult in every child.\u201d Shrek<\/em> is not necessarily aimed at an audience of children. Its satire of Disney is sometimes obvious \u2014 see the Duloc introduction scene<\/a> \u2014 and sometimes less so \u2014 see the film\u2019s broader themes about demands for cultural conformity from political and cultural leaders, including Disney. Children may not spot the latter. Shrek<\/em> had swearing, implicit and explicit references to genitalia and sex, the profane reference posed by Lord Farquaad\u2019s name, manifold celebratory depictions of openly burping and farting, plenty of anti-mainstream and anti-establishment pop music, and a stiffness in its 3-D animation, even for 2001, that I can\u2019t help but think was a purposeful middle finger to Disney\u2019s intricate 2-D animation.<\/p>\n

Shrek<\/em> won an Oscar and became beloved largely because of this: its open repudiation of Disney and its brand of children\u2019s entertainment. Of course this children\u2019s theater version of Shrek<\/em>, which isn\u2019t all that different than its Broadway counterpart, feels like it\u2019s missing something. The core ethos of Shrek<\/em> is gone.<\/p>\n

The lack of subversive pop music \u2014 particularly for a major animated film in the early 2000s in an adaptation of a film known for it (\u201cAll Star\u201d is an ode to loserhood, \u201cBad Reputation\u201d includes the word \u201cdamn\u201d eight times, \u201cHallelujah\u201d mentions watching a woman bathing on a roof) \u2014 leaves a gaping tonal void between what\u2019s on stage and what we know Shrek<\/em> is. And this pop music exclusion isn\u2019t just an occurrence with this production \u2014 \u201cAll Star\u201d wasn\u2019t in the DreamWorks Theatricals version on Broadway either, and \u201cI\u2019m a Believer\u201d was only included in the score in the latter three months of the show\u2019s 12-month run. These songs\u2019 absence in this slimmed-down version compounds with other factors to increase the more humble feel of this production.<\/p>\n

If I went to see this current touring production again, would I be able to do a better job looking at Shrek the Musical<\/em> as its own thing, rather than an adaptation of Shrek<\/em> that substitutes the film\u2019s key thesis for something generally pro-individualism? Maybe.<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s theater is wonderful. It\u2019s so important that we have theater for children, and made by children, and it deserves more attention. Children\u2019s theater can be some of the most effective theater out there, and little media is more important than media that does good for a child. But children\u2019s theater, expectedly in context, is often lower-budget. A noticeably lower-budget look in a show\u2019s costumes and set on a show that\u2019s marketed as a post-Broadway tour, with already low-quality songs and writing, and changes to characters that result in a weaker narrative, can leave a bad taste in audience\u2019s mouths.<\/p>\n

Notably, Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire are also the composer and lyricist team behind the critically acclaimed Kimberly Akimbo <\/em>\u2014 which won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The music in Shrek the Musical<\/em> does not seem up to the chops of a creative team of this quality.<\/p>\n

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The Cast of \u2018Shrek the Musical.\u2019 Photo by Jason Anderson\/Pendleton Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But even with all this said: the touring cast is going above and beyond: they are putting their souls into their performances. As Princess Fiona, Kelly Prendergast\u2019s vocals are stunning, and her interpretation of the character is not only more lovable but also fits into the Shrek<\/em> narrative more than the version of the character in the original film. Prendergast beautifully brings out the emotional depth of the musical\u2019s added emphasis on Fiona\u2019s imprisonment in a tower for more than two decades. It feels obvious that Prendergast is headed to Broadway.<\/p>\n

As Donkey, Naphtali Yaakov brings down the house. Even though he\u2019s been fitted with what look like pajamas and facepaint, he takes his role with complete seriousness, bringing expert physicality and assuredness to his choreography and his own hilarious spin on line delivery.<\/p>\n

Nicholas Hambruch\u2019s singing as Shrek was so good it made my mom cry and say \u201cso many people feel alone like that!\u201d He\u2019s got Shrek\u2019s physicality down \u2014 the hunched, thundering walk as well as moments of gentle gianthood. He\u2019s also such a trooper for wearing all that.<\/p>\n

Timmy Lewis is also wonderful as Lord Farquaad. Even if this version of the show has taken Lord Faarquad off his knees<\/a> and entirely thrown out the joke that he\u2019s short, and also made effeminateness his defining trait as opposed to unfounded masculinity, Lewis makes Faarquad hilarious and threatening. The result is these changes make Lord Faarquad into more of a televangelist Trump than the Kim Jong Un he was in the original film, and he\u2019s not as effective as a villain as a result \u2014 particularly because his role in the story is his possessiveness of women and dictatorial wielding of power, both traits on the extreme end of traditional masculinity, not femininity \u2014 but Lewis\u2019 high-energy performance and fantastic comic timing brings out the comedy to be had.<\/p>\n

Is Shrek the Musical<\/em> true to the spirit of Shrek<\/em> the film? Not really. Does it make its own creative choices that are just as satisfying as an experience? Not especially. Does it still have something interesting, and most important, entertaining to offer? Absolutely.<\/p>\n

Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes with one ten-minute intermission.<\/p>\n

Shrek the Musical<\/i><\/em> <\/strong><\/a>plays through September 22, 2024, at Capital One Hall<\/a>, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons, VA. Purchase tickets $58\u2013$108, with limited number of $25 student tickets) online.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The cast for Shrek the Musical <\/em>is on the national tour website here.<\/a><\/p>\n