Official Shrek The Musical Thread- Page 4

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 10:06pm

Can you also Scan the playbill, and if you grab a few extra you can make a lot of money on ebay!

[ChecksintheMayo]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 10:11pm

Does anyone think that if I wait longer for tickets for Shrek previews in November better seats will become available?

With the exception of opening night, which had the entire front loge blocked, everything should have been available. I bought my tickets early and pretty much found anything I wanted in every section I searched.

[ChecksintheMayo]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 10:14pm

...you can make a lot of money on ebay!

I seriously doubt that. There were hundreds of Young Frankenstein playbills on Ebay after it premiered.

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/13/08 at 5:47pm

Is there any more orchestra tests besides the 4 songs released? I have a bad audio of the Spotlight in April and can't hear it that well, I really want to hear "Daddy Was Grumpy"

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 8/13/08 at 6:19pm

im really curious to what happens to Disney on B'way future if Dreamworks does this right!

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/13/08 at 6:37pm

Shrek Spotlight thread- https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=964441#3540712

[Aswatrowinkenbo]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 1:01am

I'm actually really excited to see this. I've got tickets for the 31st.

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 6:17am

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120408.html

Seattle Goes Green: Shrek the Musical Makes World Premiere Aug. 14

By Andrew Gans
14 Aug 2008


"Brian d'Arcy James as Shrek
photo by Andrew Eccles. © 2008 DreamWorks Theatricals.

Shrek the Musical — based on the story and characters from William Steig's "Shrek!" and the blockbuster DreamWorks Animation film of the same name — makes its world premiere Aug. 14 at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre.

Directed by Jason Moore (Avenue Q and the Carnegie Hall Jerry Springer — The Opera), the production will officially open at the Washington venue Sept. 10. Performances continue through Sept. 21."

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 9:48am

Is anyone seeing it today? If so can you scan the playbill?

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 9:49am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/l.cfm?id=219447

[Elke]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 1:42pm

'Shrek' flag to fly atop the Space Needle
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/146117.asp

[rose_pearl]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 1:58pm

Well, it's tonight! Break a leg, Shrek!

[playbills]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 7:34pm

I have to follow with everyone that the lyrics aren't the greatest but there are some really good melodies and awesome orchestrations. There are details that I really appreciate.

My least favorite song has to be "Big Bright Beautiful World" - the melody is so catchy but extremely derivative! It just doesn't feel right as the opening to this show. Lyrics? "Jelly from your eyes! Jelly from your eyes!" Yesh. But it will get stuck in my head as I'm a sucker for a beat.

My favorite is "I Know It's Today" - I just think it's really effective and it sounds great.

The rest?

"The Wall" is beautifully sung. But he piranhas in the moat and finding a cloud? Almost laughable. D'Arcy is amazing but it bothers me that Shrek doesn't sing in the accent while his parents sing in theirs.

"I Could Get Used to This"? I really enjoy this song! It's a bit long but Chester Gregory works it. He's also my first great Broadway crush, so I'm a little biased. (Best Seaweed ever :x)


Crossies for great reviews.

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 8:00pm

TDH apparently has seen the show, but not all he says is true

[barcelona20]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 8:23pm

When I hear the song The Wall, I envision Clay Aiken singing it... Anyone else, or am I crazy?

[rose_pearl]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 9:56pm

Guess Brian needed to shave his head considering that costume is going to be hotter than hell!

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/146180.asp?from=blog_last3

Updated On: 8/14/08 at 09:56 PM

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 10:09pm

Is any one back yet?



Edit- Sorry I thought it said 11:09

Updated On: 8/14/08 at 10:09 PM

[rich.hanson59]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 10:12pm

It is only 7:11 in Seattle

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 10:13pm

Seriously? There's a time change? Well I'm going to go to Bed I have work in the morning. Well aren't I the idiot. I was waiting for the reviews.

[MissAnneThrop]

Posted: 8/14/08 at 10:37pm

i second the request for a playbill scan (title page, songs & cast list).

thanks.

[Elke]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 12:36am

Photo: 'Shrek' actors raise promotional flag on the Space Needle
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/146180.asp?from=blog_last3

[B3TA07]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 12:47am

Look at the comments from all the Seattle snobs!! Hahahah!

[musicalmaster703]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 10:40am

Shrek Reviews From Other Threads-

courtnyj's review

Okay, just got back. So here goes: Shrek the Musical.

It was the first public performance so I'll refrain from any real critical analysis.

The tourists will love this show. Discerning theatre snobs won't but heck it's Shrek the Musical. What did you expect?

It's too long. There were a lot of kids in the audience and three hours is way too long for a kid's show. (Although tonight's audience was pretty well behaved despite the very long running time) The second act is stronger than the first. The songs are better and the parts taken directly from the movie fit better than in the first where it isn't so seamless. The first half of the first act is kind boring but things pick up with the song "Things Are Looking Up in Duloc." I'll type up the song list later. The rest of the act is much better but they definitely could work on the first half.

The Sets:
Pretty cool. Not spectacular but boy there are a lots of set changes! I'm not sure they made any scene look the same. I kept thinking there's more? Where do they fit all that?

The Costumes:
I was sitting pretty far away but most of the costumes looked great. I didn't love the costumes for the fairy tale creatures and Donkey looked like a crappy bunny halloween costume that they spray-painted grey and pinned a donkey tail on.

Farquad was a played by a man on his knees with little stuffed legs which at first was awkward but it got better when they played with it a little bit.

The Dragon.....really annoyed me. It looked great when they revealed her but then you see that the dragon is really just a big parade float and the real dragon is a lady wearing a hideous dress followed around by a several more girls in hideous dresses. It could have worked but they made the women too separate from the parade float dragon. The dragon is on one side of the stage while the dragon lady is on the other. huh? Aren't they supposed to be one creature? And the dragon float doesn't show up in the show again after that first scene. It's just the lady in the awful dress. It really didn't work for me.

The performances were good with the exception of the fairy tale creatures whose joke often fall flat and frankly they could be annoying.


I think the show will be pretty successful even if it get mixed reviews from the New York critics (I can see a few critics disliking a show with no fewer than three fart jokes and even a little farting burping song thing.)
Well that's a lot more than I thought I was going to write. If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer 'em.

Fiona's Costume change?

No spectacular change. She walks off-stage for at least a minute and comes back transformed.

They also have a bit earlier in the show (the morning after the second night for those who are familiar with the plot) where they show ogre-Fiona walking in the woods just before the sun rises and she goes behind a tree and out from the other side comes Sutton Foster as human Fiona. (The ogre-Fiona was a different actress in that par

Pinnochio is a real man (haha) and his costume looked great.

The gingerbread man was a puppet.

Sutton was an ogre at the end. She had plenty of time to change during the wedding scene. They just play a little trick a few scenes earlier but it isn't very well executed. The ogre-Fiona walks behind a tree upstage and Sutton comes out of a different tree farther downstage.

Acting and singing good for the most part. The fairy tale creatures performances were a little uneven but I think poor writing for them is to blame. Hope they punch up some of their stuff.

Also there were a few references to other shows.....A Chorus Line (sort of), Wicked and the Lion King were the ones I caught.


Here's the song List:

Act 1

Big Bright Beautiful World
I Could Get Used To This
The Line-Up
The Line-Up Reprise #1
The Goodbye Song
I Know It's Today
Things Are Looking Up in Duloc
Travel Song
Donkey Pot Pie
This Is How Dreams Come True
The Line-Up Reprise #2
Who I'd Be


Act 2
Morning Person
I Think I Got You Beat
The Ballad of Farquaad
Let Her In
Gonna Build a Wall
Freak Flag
More to the Story
Wedding Procession
The Wedding
Finale






ChecksintheMayo's act 1 review

Not necessarily a review. More like random thoughts on what worked and didn't work for me, and what I'd like to see. I've been up all night, so it's a bit disjointed.

"Big Bright Beautiful World" opens the show upon Shrek's parents booting him out on his seventh birthday. It shows him being rejected by the world en masse until he finally secludes himself in his swamp, where the adult version introduces himself with a grandiose toilet flush. "It's a big, bright, beautiful world" becomes Shrek's leitmotif throughout the show - snippets of it pop up here and there. That's a nice touch.

A bit surprised at how undaunting our hero comes off, especially in the beginning. He's practically nebbish. Both canned roars ("this is the part where you run") felt silly and ineffectual. The ("boo") clawed hands didn't help. Maybe try ominous leaning? Ominous leaning always works. He also seems to get pushed around by Donkey, the fairytale creatures, Farquaad et all too easily. And while we all know that beneath the (to use the show's metaphor) hairy, smelly onion lies a sweet, chewy center, but there's no reason to put it on display this early on. It only serves to lessen the impact of his journey.

Having seen Lippa's Wild Party, I know Brian D'Arcy James can be scary. So let him be. And let him be surly. Intimidating. The big, brash, farting recluse being dragged kicking and screaming into this adventure. And then let him be surprised when he finally confesses that maybe, just maybe he wants to be that hero after all at the Act 1 finale. That's the development I want to see.

The Chorus Line parody (sorry, don't have the playbill in front of me). Enchanted folks in a lineup la "I Hope I Get It" replete with Farquaad's disembodied voice. I laughed so hard when he commanded the baby bear, "Take a step back...too much...too little...just right." I am such a nerd.

"I Could Get Used to This." Pretty much what I expected.

CGI-ish effects for the Magic Mirror are fantastic. Select-a-bride is almost verbatim from the film, as well as the Gingerbread Man torture scene.

"I Know It's Today." Huge applause for Sutton's entrance. We see Fiona's ridiculously strong several times - when she splits the books in half during "cut chatter...", and later, while de-horning the deer. Let's push that idea even further. Let her tear one of those books in half crosswise. Accidentally, of course. You vandal, you. I liked the three Fionas singing on different ends of the tower. I don't care if it's not logically possible.

"Things Are Looking Up in Duloc." Chris Sieber is hysterical. A dance. In Super Mario World (great costumes!). This thing is longer than the Transylvania Mania. And, of course, Farquaad's "nothing's gonna bring me down" with accompanying Elphaba yell. Hell yeah.

"Traveling Song." Feels like it was built around the whole idea of having days (circling sun & moon), various passers-by and Lion King puppets cycling in the background to show the passage of time. Like the concept, but the song's a dud. Cut it in half, or even drop it completely, and have this scene happen during the onion talk.

The dragon's lair. Nice bridge. How about making it wobble? Or sway. A lightly swaying bridge would be truly scary, compounding Donkey's terror. Or is that just worker's comp waiting to happen?

"Donkey Pot Pie." I like this song. I couldn't hear half the lyrics though. Dig the concept of having Kecia Lewis-Evans on stage with the puppet dragon behind her (her voice or "persona" along with her physical form). However, the puppet seems to be bobbing somewhat randomly around, creating a disconnect between the two. I'd like to see them more in sync. When Kecia turns to the left, so should the puppet. I'd like them at least to be facing in the same direction. Ideally, I'd like to see their motions miming each other. Hell, I'd like the dragon to have arms so she can point and groove along with Kecia.

Random skeleton dance. I'm guessing because they had to go put the dragon head away and change scenery.

"I Know It's Today" reprised. With a tambourine. So cute. Shrek bouncing Fiona on the bed to wake her up. Even cuter. She's as tall as he is. Huh.

Running away from invisible pseudo-threats is not scary. What's scary to me? A tail whipping in in from downstage. Fire and smoke as they run stage left, a claw swiping at them from stage right, knocking over a part of the wall. We don't need to see the whole dragon, just bits and pieces - hints that the danger is everywhere instead of just an ominous voice. And finally the dragon's head ramming the gate so fiercely, the foundations shake. That's scary. Fiona was also singing throughout this, but in a weird and disjointed fashion. It felt like two things were happening at the same time that didn't quite mesh.

Sunset. I was hoping Fiona would have torn the bark off the tree (to continue with the joke).

Pinocchio/Gingerbread Man/Gingerplum Fairy. I...didn't really pay much attention during this part. Sorry. Nice riff from Haven though.

And finally, we come to the end of the first act. Something about the orchestration sounds anemic, especially when it dovetails back into "Big Bright Beautiful World." I want a bigger sound. Brassier. A showstopper-worthy conclusion that compares to the absolutely gorgeous tableau of the ogre Fiona's silhouette against the full moon. I'm not really thrilled with the lyrics either. What bothers me is that Shrek seems a little too self-aware in it as opposed to a discovery about himself. The idea of "maybe this is what I secretly wanted all along," has far less impact with the former than the latter because with the former, he doesn't really change or grow. What I'd like to have seen was a progression. Let him start off with his usual "I'm an ogre, rahr!" stuff. Then move it towards, "but this adventure was fun," eventually moving to the conclusion of "maybe I can/want to be that hero after all." I want that act closer to hit me and make me go "YEAH! YOU GO!"

Right now, it just sort of makes me think, "that's a gorgeous background."

I'll go into Act two later, after I've had a nap.

Review by Robert Taylor

* please note that this was written in an airport in the middle of the night by a very tired person waiting for his late flight to go home to Ohio. Excuse the incoherence.*

It’s really not all that far, far away. Only the Fifth Avenue Theater in Seattle, actually. But with advance ticket sales for the tryout of “Shrek The Musical” disappearing faster than a smoker’s breath while dancing, getting to see the production proper might just be as difficult as the trek that Shrek and Donkey undergo to rescue Princess Fiona.

So is “Shrek The Musical” the next “Lion King” or the next “Little Mermaid”? The answer is, right now, a little bit of both. But let’s not be too hyper critical, shall we? After all, the show is still pretty green. Apologies for further “green” puns in advance.

You know the story right? A giant green Ogre named Shrek (Brian D’Arcy James) and Donkey (Chester Gregory) go on a quest to retrieve the beautiful-but-secretive Princess Fiona (Sutton Foster) for the evil Lord Farquaad (Christopher Sieber). Mayhem and slapstick ensues.

Most importantly, this feels like part of the “Shrek” franchise. In the place of dozens of movie and pop culture references and jokes (though there are some, of course), we get several Broadway references and jokes that I wouldn’t dream of spoiling for viewers. The gags are genuine and elicit belly laughs for the same reason the gags work in the films: They send up the shows they target, but not in a degrading way.

That said, the show needs some work. If it were opening in this condition, I doubt anyone would be fully pleased with the final product. Families with children will find the show slow and top-heavy. Broadway fans will criticize some of the costumes and set pieces. And the score still needs work. On the other hand this is, after all, a tryout for the show and many, if not most, of the problems can be fixed before the show premiers on The Great White Way.

“Shrek” certainly takes it’s time to get going; in fact the first forty minutes of the needs-a-half-hour-trimmed-from-the-running-time show seem to be more of an exercise in wheel spinning than anything else. It was as if the creative team and actors were visibly getting used to the world they were crafting then moved on to doing the rest of the show (which gets progressively better) while forgetting the shaky first section of the production. It’s here that the score, by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire (who also wrote the very smart book) is at its weakest, and there is, sadly, no real “Circle of Life” moment that immediately immerses the audience into the world.

The first act DOES pick up, though, and by the time we reach the beginning of the second act, the production is humming along at a fair pace. The score improves exponentially and the set pieces begin to click. Yes, the dragon IS included in this production and her entrance is breathtaking. Yes, the puppetry of some of the fairy tale characters is pretty darn cool. And yes, Shrek looks like Shrek (the photos from USA Today do not do the costume justice).

But although much of the costuming is good, that only puts a spotlight on the clunkers. Yes, I’m talking about Donkey, whose costume looks like it would be more at home in a high school nativity scene at Christmas than in a Broadway production. Also, the transformation of Princess Fiona from beauty into an ogre (whoops, uh, spoilers!) is pretty lame considering the obvious budget involved. It was another opportunity to get a “wow!” out of the audience, but it just didn’t work.

The smart book and dialogue is delivered with vivaciousness by a game cast. Standouts include Foster, who already seems at home with Fiona, and embraces the character’s emotional journey without ever missing a beat. Sieber is jaw-droppingly good as the height-impaired Farquaad (in a great bit of old-stage magic, he’s simply on his knees the entire production—and it works!), never moreso than in his standout “The Ballad of Farquaad” that brings down the house.

“Shrek the Musical” has the makings of being a good, solid production that turns into a profitable Broadway run. There are several problems, both major and minor, that need to be addressed, specifically the snooze-worthy beginning, for the show to flourish as it has the potential to, but the creative team and cast show a lot of possibility for excellence here. Just don’t expect a masterpiece—life isn’t always a fairy tale, after all.

Rating: *** (out of 5)


(After a nap)

[Broadwaywest2]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 4:31pm

I'm going to see the show on Aug.30th Sat.night? Anyone else going? Also, does anyone know of any good restaurants around that area. I have never been to Seattle

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 9:05pm

For anyone who has seen the show thus far, is Haven Burton covering Fiona?