SHREK THE MUSICAL, based on the Oscar®-winning DreamWorks film that started it all, brings the hilarious story of everyone’s favorite ogre to life on the stage.

In a faraway kingdom turned upside down, things get ugly when an unseemly ogre – not a handsome prince – shows up to rescue a feisty princess. Throw in a donkey who won’t shut up, a bad guy with a SHORT temper, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you’ve got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there’s one on hand… and his name is SHREK.

Featuring a terrific score of 19 all-new songs, big laughs, great dancing and breathtaking scenery,
USA Today proclaims SHREK THE MUSICAL, “ALTOGETHER IRRESISTIBLE. A BIG FAT HIT!”

SHREK THE MUSICAL is part romance, part twisted fairy tale and all irreverent fun for everyone!

Running time: TBD RATING: Fun for All - Ogres and Donkeys included! Civic Theatre, San Diego Haga clic aqui para Español

Official SHREK Website

Available NOW with Season Tickets and Group Purchase!

Public On Sale Date: TBD

Individual ticket prices: $86 -- $20

SCHEDULE:
Tuesday, Wednesday – 7 p.m.
Thursday – 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Saturday – 8 p.m.
Saturday matinee – 2 p.m.
Sunday – 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

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Group ticket prices: $92 - $20

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A CurtainUp Review - SHREK THE MUSICAL
By Simon Saltzman, www.curtainup.com

He's big, green, and ugly. He smells bad (how about using skunk as an underarm deodorant?), frightens everyone he meets, and wants to be left alone. He's Shrek, an ogre. And right now he's my choice for the most dominating leading man on Broadway.

If things go as they should, he may even get credit for bringing back the long-forgotten term "matinee idol." But let's hope it won't just be the matinee crowd that takes Shrek to their heart. Brian d'Arcy James, an extraordinarily fine actor (and good-looking, it should be noted—to prove it, see the picture in the add-on Box at the end of this review.) of great versatility, is portraying the character originally created by author William Steig in his popular children's book and subsequently the subject of a hugely successful animated film (and a sequel). He is the perfect choice.

Almost fifty years ago Mary Rodgers' fairy-tale musical Once Upon a Mattress showed us how receptive an adult audience can be to what is essentially a children's fable. Like that show, Shrek is favored with an abundance of wacky but wise wit. Notwithstanding Disney's uniquely conceived and executed The Lion King, Shrek is an example of a family show that is as accessible to perceptive children as it is accommodating to sophisticated adults. Except for Stephen Sondheim's psychologically complex Into The Woods, the realm of fairy tales has been predominantly in the care of the Disney corporation.

It is a minor miracle that this Dreamworks Theatrical production, under the splendid, if occasionally indulgent, direction of Jason Moore, doesn't either condescend to minors or compromise the show's adult perspective. It also doesn't come as a surprise that Moore, who helmed the puppet-people musical Avenue Q, would choose the gifted John Tartaglia who originated the role of Princeton in Avenue Q, to play the small but instantly winning role of the very puppet-y Pinocchio. Tartaglia's puppetry skills are also put to work with the appearance of the fearsome and (believe it or not) seductive Dragon.

If you aren't familiar with the book or the film, the most famous fairy tale characters abound although they play a peripheral role in the plot. Shrek has made a home for himself deep in the woods. His domain is threatened with the arrival of the entire fairy tale population of Duloc, all of whom — including the humorously characterized and costumed Peter Pan, The Three Bears, Ugly Duckling, the Shoemaker's Elf, White Rabbit, Big Bad Wolf and Wicked Witch— have been exiled by the evil Lord Farquaad (Christopher Sieber). Shrek is promised his land back if he will rescue and bring back Princess Fiona (Sutton Foster) to be Farquaad's bride. On his journey he is befriended by a gregarious Donkey (Daniel Breaker), threatened by a pursuing Dragon and (could it be?) smitten by a tap-dancing princess.

What is astonishing is how much nuance and emotional variety D'Arcy James produces from under all that make-up. By the time he delivers the score's most touching balled, "Who I'd Be," to close out Act I, he has you ready to march for the equal rights of all ogres. Breaker, who gave a dynamic performance last season in the musical Passing Strange, is a real kick as the gabby sidekick Donkey. His every line becomes an innuendo and every energy-charged movement appears to have two meanings of its own.

Considering his villainy, Sieber provides the funniest illusion in the show by performing on his knees ("Things Are Looking Up,") with his costume designed to hide his legs so that he appears to be a dwarf. Foster, who is once again in the kind of comically empowered role she excels in (Inga in Young Frankenstein and Janet Van De Graaf in The Drowsy Chaperone) is totally beguiling as well as endearingly feisty as Princess Fiona who not only conjures up the show's most unexpectedly lively dance number (where none would ordinarily seem to fit) but sings the charming "Morning Person" for some even more unexpected results.

Enhancing as well as embracing the Shrek cartoon movie could not have been an easy task. But thanks to an extremely creative production team, this musical is alternately funny-as-can-be and heart-warming. That it is longer by an hour than the film doesn't prove to be a problem considering the addition of many terrific musical numbers. It was no less than inspiration to engage David Lindsay-Abaire to adapt the screenplay. I don't know how much dialogue he has extracted from the film, but much of it resonates with the same loopy overtones that made Fuddy Meers and Kimberly Akimbo so marvelously original. The lyrics he has written to Jeanine Tesori's lovely score are also distinguished by their sweet and comical sensibility. A departure from the stunning but more seriously defined operatic score she wrote for Caroline, or Change, Tesori's has written seventeen songsto kick up a notch what we have come to accept as traditional show music.

Between the concerted efforts of Moore, Lindsay-Abaire and choreographer Josh Prince, the musical numbers are tinged with illusions and references to other musicals, such as The Lion King, Wicked, and A Chorus Line. Among Prince's most amusing efforts is a giddy number that features the Pied Piper and his trailing entourage of tap dancing rats, and a very funny precision routine for the look-alike knights of Duloc. (think back to the knights in Danny Kaye's classic The Court Jester).

The tricky part with a show like this and with prices like this is to make sure that the escorts are as entertained as their charges. They will be.

Naomi Donne deserves honors for her make-up design. The settings and costumes by Tim Hatley and the lighting by Hugh Vanstone are in the grand old tradition of being a treat to the eyes. In fact, everything about Shrek The Musical is in the grand old tradition— a splendid musical comedy (with a meaningful message) for the entire family.

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