Brief Thoughts On SHREK Press Preview 12/12/08- Page 2

[jagfkb]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 11:31am

All right, now that I'm fully awake, I'll write a review of last night's truly incredible performance:

NOTE: I'm not going to try and insult WBAF, but some of his facts are inaccurate, including having half of the orchestra/ mezzanine empty. From my seat, the theatre was FILLED.

Since I saw the third preview, I'll tell you about the numerous changes made:

To start the show, Julie Andrews does a preshow announcement about turning off cellphones, unwrapping candy, etc. It was cute. Then, the show began as usual, but the largest change I found was that "Big Bright Beautiful World" cut everything from after Shrek says goodbye to his parents to him emerging from the outhouse. The sets still look incredible, and just scream money. They fill the stage completely and never leave you wanting more. "Story of My Life" while still extremly funny, did have some very minor changes with certain jokes. Then, rather than having it seem that Donkey flew using the pixie dust, you see him being chased by the guards, which actually worked alot better. They also added this cute little thing to his ears which make them perk up or turn. "Don't Let me Go" added two Broadway jokes, one sounding like it was from Rent's "Take Me or Leave Me", and the other from Dreamgirls. In the dungeon scene, the gingerbread man now has his two broken off legs right next to him. The eyebrows also move on their own. Rest is the same up to "Travel Song", which now has (in it's parade of puppets) a dish and a spoon being followed by a duloc police car.

Now, in my last review, my largest concern was that of the dragon puppet AND "Donkey Pot Pie". Now, with three soloists singing the voice of the Dragon, it seems to finally come together for this number. I actually loved the number here just as much as the one in seattle. The puppet now looks ALOT better, even though not much has really changed, it just does. Also, they finally made the skeletons which appear in the number make sense by having the dragon soloists say "That's what that guys said, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him, and..." It just flowed that number.

The rest of the first act was pretty much the save, save for having a Shrek body double beat up the dancing skeletons rather than have the out of place skeleton versions of Shrek, Donkey, and Finoa. During the Act One Finale, rather than having Finoa appear in a silohuete infront of the moon, they showed her in full ogre makeup, which made me think, was it actually Sutton? It was the same amount of time which she had to get orgred up for the finale, and I weouldn't think they'd show a double in full light, like that.

The second act was exactly the same as last time with only two minor changes:

The Ballad of Farquad cut out the entire cowboy dance break, which even my dad agreed with me on was uneccessary in the first place. The second was the finale, which had numerous small changes:

1: Fiona's transformations were both done alot better. In the first, the lights go out completely, and various people in robes bring on lanterns to light the church again. The finoa double used to help Sutton get into makeup then switches with Sutton in the confusion, and the lights come up on Sutton as an ogre. The second one was almost exactly the same, except a different light combo was used, resulting in something which looked truly magical.

2: The dragon, rather than having it's head just sit there, actually comes through the stained glass window and eats Farquad. the dragon then looks at the action and seems to respond quite well to the action (Also, John Tartaglia operates this puppet during "Donkey Pot Pie"). Overall, a great improvement.

3: The new finale song is MUCH better than the old one. My only thing: Is it possible to have the dragon puppet onstage during this finale moment? The stage is for the first time rather empty, and I'd love to see the dragon be there.

Overall, I think this will certainly do well, and I'll be excited to see the show come next January. Maybe it won't win the tony for best Musical, or be popular with critics, but it will certainly, as seen at last night's performance, do well with families and theatregoers alike. I wish it well.

4 out of 5 stars.

[stageishome]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 11:42am

Thank you for the WONDERFUL review jagfkb!

It sounds like they got their act together for Press Night...

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 11:52am

Thank god! Things are really coming along for this show.

[TimeSquare3]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 11:57am

Jag, loved your review.

Jen Cody does play the elf right? Is she a legal dwarf?

[TimeSquare3]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 12:43pm

Also are the 3 girls visble in fruity dresses or are they just the voice of Dragon?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 1:13pm

3 voices for the Dragon? I still don't get why they can't just have one.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 1:38pm

Because it was stupid and didn't work in Seattle.

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 1:45pm

Sounds like this is going the road of Young Frankenstein, which is fine with me because I love that show and it has a great cast recording!

[TimeSquare3]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 1:45pm

Seattle had one main singer and like seven backups.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 1:47pm

Thanks for the review,WannaBe. I was really interested in your thoughts of the show, especially since we're both Jeanine Tesori fans.
Were there any songs that stood out for you or was the score just too generic?
This blows, I thought Tesori might turn this into another MILLIE or CAROLINE.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 1:54pm

Someone told me that SHREK the musical was created at Sam Mendes' instigation.

Why a pro like Tesori is listening to an Englishman whose primary musical experience is in revivals is beyond me.

[BrianS]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 3:08pm

Wannabe, I respect your right to not like the show, but how is it a fair review when you leave out the things you loved in the show? Chris Sieber gives a performance that puts him as the man to beat at the Tony's and you don't mention it? And please explain how Shrek's sets (the full moon, the tower, etc) are worse that that god-awful lime green, never-changing spaghetti box monstrosity of Tarzan? Some of them were actually beautiful (though I do think the castle looked cheap).

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 5:08pm

I find much of Tesori's score memorable. Especially the opener, "I Know It's Today" for the 3 Fiona's, Daddy Was Grumpy for Sieber, and "Donkey Pot Pie" for the dragon (though I'm not sure if that's still in the show). I've had the melody to "Morning Person", Foster's Act II opener, in my head since seeing it in September.

[noodles2]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 5:19pm

i would have to disagree, i thought it was TERRIFIC!!!! see it for yourself, its a great show!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 11:45pm

BobbyBubby, those are - IMO - the worst songs in the show. I think all of Shrek's solos are good, and so is "The Story Of My Life." "Donkey Pot Pie" I can't even remember, but I remember thinking "when will this end!"

I just think they shot themselves in the foot going for a literal translation of the piece.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 12/13/08 at 11:59pm

LuPonatic, that's a very insightful observation.

Having seen the first preview, I side with WannaBe. The show is not terrible, but it feels as if the material still have so much untapped potential, and it's exremely frustrating to watch for that reason, and as good as the talent may be (namely Sieber), it's not enough to save the show. When you spend 100 dollars on a show, you have to feel like it was worth that much, and Shrek NEVER did for me. Not once.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 1:10am

"I'm sure it was a favor to Moore. He's great in the part but there's really no chance to expand it for him."

Is this referring to Tartaglia? If anything, I'd say the opposite: it was a favor from Moore to Tartaglia. I'd imagine the guy needs a job.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 6:41am

Tartaglia has a job. He has his own very successful TV show.

This SHREK gig is just a side job.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 8:09am

"Tartaglia has a job. He has his own very successful TV show."

Thanks for the info, Wanna Be A Foster. I didn't know about the series.

Question: looking online, it seems that the individual episodes are five minutes. Is that correct?

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 8:32am

"I'm not sure why people are hoping that this gets 'creamed by the critics'? I never understood that philosophy.

"Yeah...I hope this show gets annihilated and flops SO hard that almost all the initial investment is lost by the producers. I think that would be great for the world of New York theater, especially right now. Because if they lose their money, they are going to be so willing to back future productions of shows. Because it's not like we've had any issues with producers wanting to back out in this climate now? :cough Godspell cough:"

Well, here's an answer: When mediocre shows get good reviews, it lowers the bar. And people see them and think it represents admired theatre. So if they're relatively new to theatregoing, they may come away thinking, "This is supposed to be so good, but it doesn't seem very good to me. Maybe I just don't really like or get theatre. I don't think I'll do this again." Or "That was OK but the movie was better. Why spend all this money when I could have just watched the movie again?"

Perhaps if when people came to the theatre, they saw something that isn't a retread, they'd start to like that and want to see more of it. (Yes, I know that most musicals have always been adaptations. But there are adaptations that have creativity and then there are adaptations that don't. And then there are adaptations that have some but still seem confused about what they want to be, like Shrek.)

Personally, I don't think it would be so bad if the corporate producing entities left Broadway entirely. I rather think it might be good. I see the opposite argument, but a smaller Broadway might be preferable if if were a better Broadway. Get rid of the bloated, overmiked, mechanical spectacles and give us some humanity again. Perhaps if the bloated, overmiked, mechanical spectacles keep flopping, there will be less of an inclination to produce them and more of an inclination to produce work of quality. (Yes, I know some people like Shrek and it's gotten some good reviews.)

Sometimes it's better to see the thing you love go through a period of extreme difficulty in the hope that it will come out better in the end. The current Broadway blockbuster mentality is extremely destructive and I'd happily see it destroyed. There are talented people involved in this particular show but I don't think they've made a very good show. Perhaps freed of the pressure to produce a blockbuster, they might have made a better one.

And perhaps with less money at their disposal, they might have produced something less bloated. Too much money can cause caution. The need for the show to return that money produces the feeling that you have to make something that will appeal to everyone. The desire to appeal to everyone rarely makes very good theatre.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 8:53am

nobodyhome, each episode of his TV show is 30 minutes.

I watch it with my nephew often. It's a lot of fun. Natalie Venetia Belcon is on the show, too.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 5:06pm

Thanks again, Wanna Be a Foster. On imdb, it says the episodes are five minutes. That didn't seem to make much sense.

[minicko88]

Posted: 12/15/08 at 6:04pm

I heard that they changed the ending to Who I'd be... Now Fiona sings with shrek? Does that sound good? OR do you wish it was just Shrek? I absolutely loved it when it was like that... Just wondering what yall think?