Any SHREK news from last night?- Page 5

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 12:32am

Thank you, Klem.

I know Ben Crawford is the standby for Shrek, so he understudies that role in addition to the list they probably put in the Playbill.

I find it funny that a) Haven Burton (who I think is a fierce talent) is covering Teen Fiona, since Marissa O'Donnell is about 16 and b) that Keaton Whittaker, who I think is the little girl alternating Young Fiona with Leah Greenhaus?, is covering Young Shrek.

[Weez]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 5:35am

Must be like 'Les Mis'; on occasion, they've had to use a female Gavroche (one of the two young girls) when the boy was out of commission. :3

[dramarama2]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 10:19am

Could anyone who's seen it please tell me who did the orchestrations?

[Klem]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 10:27am

Orchestrations were done by Danny Troob

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 10:54am

courtneynj, thanks for your input. Glad to finally have some idea of what the show is like.

Ignore RacerX's idiotic comments.

[ChecksintheMayo]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 11:51am

Okay, I lied about the nap. Just got back into town, on my 48th hour up.

Caught the second show on Friday to see if I could crystallize some of the nagging concerns I had about the show, and you know what?

I really enjoyed it the second time around. Seriously. The show last night was nearly 180 from the hot mess I saw on Thursday. It seemed tighter, more focused. The cast was ON, and the audience gobbled it all up with enthusiasm.

The Shrek "roar" still makes me grimace.

I'm still meh on "Travel Song," though I appreciate its use as the transition to the dragon's lair and the slow camaderie between Shrek and Donkey. "Now YOU go." Heh.

Dragon is still a bobbing puppet.

"This is How a Dream Comes True" is...still bland. I don't think it contrasts enough with the whole escaping the dragon sequence and gets lost in all the running around.

Pinocchio & Gingy's scene was cut. Now it goes from Fiona's sunset exit straight to Shrek & Donkey stargazing.

Something about "Who I'd Be" (the Act One closer). I don't know if anything's changed or if it just finally clicked for me, but where the music builds up to "I'd have a hero's ending. A perfect happy ending. That's how it could be. A big bright beautiful world!" Paused on a single horn. Followed by the subdued, almost melancholy, "...but not for me." The accompanying wistful strains, and then the slow crescendo and fade in on Fiona outlined by the moon. An ogre of no importance. Damn it. I am now officially in love with this scene.

Act Two.

"Morning Person" is the Fiona show. She makes birds asplode. Discus hurls deer. Can play the pipe, and tap dances! Is it a big, silly sketch? Yes (though the tap dancing rats seem to have been trimmed a bit. Or at least feels shorter.) Moves the plot forward? No. Absolutely necessary? No.

But you know what? I like it. So there.

"I Think I Got You Beat" is the "my life is suckier than yours" duet that turns into bonding over mutual abandonment issues and eventually degenerates into a belching and farting contest. Ah, young love.

"Ballad of Farquaad" (or, Daddy Was Grumpy). Spaghetti Western music! I did mention Christopher Sieber was hysterical, yes? Yes. And tiny, tiny feet.

"Let Her In" is a riff on Dreamgirls a la the three blind mice. I do like that the dragon also intrudes upon Donkey's dream sequence as well - makes their eventual hookup less of a plot contrivance.

Adore "Gonna Build a Wall," but I think it's in the wrong place. Having Shrek's 11 o'clock number right after Fiona's conversation with Donkey (where Shrek overhears only part of the conversation regarding herself, and makes all the wrong assumptions) makes the scenes following it anticlimactic. Wouldn't it make more sense in the following scene, to keep the reprise of "Who I'd Be" then fade out? That layer of tension would sustain into the next scenes, where he drives everyone away. He's lost Fiona and his best (only) friend. He's angry, hurt and "Gonna Build a Wall" becomes the culmination of his despair. I think the song would explode right here.

"Freak Flag." The first time I saw this, I thought "Legally Blonde Remix."

Fiona in a wedding dress. Her big number, in counterpoint to Shrek's. They've both been forced back to where they were at the start, but in contrast to "I Know it's Today," where she wanted to skip through all the preliminaries and get to the happy ending. Like Shrek, she's had a journey as well - thrown away all her old preconceived notions of love, and this Fiona keeps hoping there's "More to the Story" because if there isn't - well, then that's it for her. This song just kills me.

"It's a big bright beautiful world" again. But this time, Shrek wants to change the ending.

Fiona runs offstage and comes back five minutes later (during La Revolucion) all greenified. And the people at Wicked are instantly jealous.

Farquaad's comeuppance. With the stained-glass window broken, I expected the dragon puppet to make an appearance. Kecia and Chester looked small, practically hidden behind the smoke & broken glass.

The hugging scene in the finale. If it's a piss-take on the Beauty & the Beast ending, it doesn't work. If it isn't, it REALLY doesn't work.

The very end itself is...weak. Shrek concluding the story to bookend the narration at the beginning isn't really enough. I guess I was expecting a more orchestral ending, something that goes back to the main themes set in the beginning. Without it, it just sort of feels like "ah, we didn't know how to really end this, so here's Fairytale land's version of Dancing Queen."

ETA: Somebody wanted the songlist, right?



Updated On: 8/16/08 at 11:51 AM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 1:58pm

Is there a show curtain?

[rose_pearl]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 2:07pm

Thanks for the review, Klem! How did your SD pics turn out?

And ChecksInTheMayo, glad you enjoyed it the second time around!

[alliez92092]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 2:48pm

I didn't realize Rachel Stern was in the show! I hope she gets to go on for the Dragon, she'll be fierce.

[caitlinette]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 3:43pm

Must be like 'Les Mis'; on occasion, they've had to use a female Gavroche (one of the two young girls) when the boy was out of commission. :3

I wonder what the reaction would have been if they had used a male Cosette when the girls were out...

[SteamHeat2]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 6:13pm

I saw Shrek Thursday Aug 14. (5th Row floor)
Sutton Foster was really the star of the show, she was perfect.
Denny Paschall (Peter Pan) was great even though it was a very small part-he is an amazing dancer.
Chris Sieber was incredible and absolutely hilarious.
Chester Gregory was pretty good not incredible but good.
John Tartaglia was good as well but I don't think the Pinocchio song was necassary.
Haven Burton was funny in a very obvious way.
Kecia Lewis Evans wasnt memorable.
Brian D'Arcy JAmes was extraordinary in most parts but then failed in a couple. Overall he was good though.
The thing that bothered me the most, besides the cutting of the Robin Hood scene (favorite scene of the movie which would have worked very well on stage), was the weaker singing/harmonies of the ensemble. They seemed to need more singing rehearsals although the dancing was very good.
Favorite numbers: "I Know its Today" "Things are Looking Up in Duloc" "Morning Person" (loved the tap umber, favorite part of musical) "I Think I got you Beat" (farting/belching contest was perfect) "Gonna Build a Wall" "More to the Story" "ballad of Farquaad" and I think the other one was the fairy tales ensemble number in the second act.
I the Chorus Line, Wicked, and Lion King references were funny.
I did not like Suttons first solo after I Know its Today-what happened to her belting?? That song was soprano...luckily her songs in the second act made up for it!
I didnt like Donkey Pot Pie.
Liked second act a lot better than the first act.
Overall, the show was fun -no Sondheim- but fun and good.

Any questions feel free to ask.
Im seeing it three more times before it heads to New York

[SteamHeat2]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 6:19pm

I also really liked the transition to the bridge to the rescue of Fiona in the first act.
The lighting is good and appropriate and the sets were excellent and it was amazing that the sets werent really used twice-each scene seemed to have a different set.
The skeleton dance (which was probably used as a transition for the sets) was really good but I wish we had not seen them until the dance. (we saw them during the donkey pot pie) Updated On: 8/16/08 at 06:19 PM

[MissAnneThrop]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 7:22pm

Can someone post who sang what, the cast list and cover page.
thanks.

[ChecksintheMayo]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 7:53pm

The cover was already posted in another thread.

"Big Bright Beautiful World" - Company
"I Could Get Used to This" - Donkey
"The Line-Up", "The Line-Up Reprise #1" & "The Goodbye Song" - Fairytale Critters
"I Know It's Today" - Fiona (ages 9, 12 & 21)
"Things Are Looking Up in Duloc" - Farquaad & Company
"Travel Song" - Donkey & Shrek
"Donkey Pot Pie" - Dragon & ah...her tail?
"This is How a Dream Comes True" - Fiona
"The Line-Up Reprise #2" - Pinocchio & Gingy/Sugar Plum Fairy - CUT ON Friday
"Who I'd Be" - Shrek

"Morning Person" - Fiona
"I Think I Got You Beat" - Fiona & Shrek
"The Ballad of Farquaad" - Farquaad
"Let her In" - Donkey, Three Blind Mice & Dragon
"Gonna Build a Wall" - Shrek
"Freak Flag" - Fairytale Critters
"More to the Story" - Fiona
"Wedding Procession" - Instrumental
"The Wedding" - Scene, thought there's a reprise of "It's a Big
Bright Beautiful World" sung by Shrek.
"Finale" - Company

Updated On: 8/16/08 at 07:53 PM

[MissAnneThrop]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 8:19pm

Checks:

Thanks. Can you post the title page with the credits?

[ChecksintheMayo]

Posted: 8/16/08 at 8:42pm

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 1:09am

my friend told me he knew the girl playing "ogre fiona." now, this friend isnt a great source, but there's no way they can get sutton in makeup "as good as brians" in the five minutes. he said it was a double, but sutton's voice (a la the witch in into the woods).

question, in the curtain call, does sutton bow as the ogre or as a human? that could clear things up, unless sutton doesnt get a bow or something.

[ChecksintheMayo]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 1:38am

She does the bow as an ogre. Since the ogre form is a bit wider, they just needed to create a cast for her to step into. I looked a little closer on Friday and there appeared to be a line split at the level of her necklace, where the costume went around creating the ogre shoulders.

That still means it's five minutes to get her face and neck green, add ears/wig change, and, I think, a prosthetic nose?

I'm pretty sure the double appears during during the Act 1 finale and when Donkey discovers her night form. In both of these instances, Fiona's under pretty obscure lighting. In the finale she's not. It's definitely Sutton.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 1:49am

awesome, thanks! it seemed odd they'd spend 5 min on a transformation to have it be a double.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 6:17am

"I wonder what the reaction would have been if they had used a male Cosette when the girls were out..."

If I'm not mistaken, a young Jason Tam went on as Eponine one night when he was in LES MIZ.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 11:26am

Once she is the Ogre does she ever leave the stage? There could be a double standing by, and then while Sutton is getting into her overall look, the double is on stage until then?

What's the show curtain?

[dacvingwolf]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 12:03pm

what does the gingerbread costume look like?

[Klem]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 5:27pm

The show curtain isn't very exciting. It's like a huge green "crepe paperish" drop. When the audience enters they see the drop and a giant tree. On the tree things were projected on it like sets of eyes, dripping slime and an occasional bug. It was very green. When I first saw it, I was instantly reminded of the set for Tarzan because the drop and the tree resembled a lot of vines.

There isn't a costume for Gingy. It's a flat puppet on a baking tray. The Sugar Plum Fairy (Haven) controls the facial and other movements with her right hand. It looks exactly like Gingy in the movie complete with gum drop buttons.

[AL3]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 6:13pm

I saw the opening night of previews. Have tickets to see it again in a week, and look forward to seeing the changes. I pretty much agree with the previous reviews. I'm hoping the opening is improved. Young Shrek could be played by anyone, he doesn't say anything and is heavily costumed. He was not very energetic even before receiving the bad news of being sent away. The hilarity of Lord Farquat was my favorite. Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona were all excellent as well. There wasn't much in the music that was really memorable, which should translate into not enjoying it as a musical, but I did anyway!

[yankees1253]

Posted: 8/17/08 at 8:28pm

thanks for the nice for the reviews, the song list, what needs to cut/worked on, and also the covers for the roles. nice to read haven understudies fiona. i would not mind seeing haven or sutton as fiona. i think i leaning towards shrek instead of billy elliot for my christmas big gift. my third choice is south pacific. for those that reviewed the show thans for your time to type up your long reviews, and also for posting pictures.

heres the myspace for shrek:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=393251465