Shrek The Musical - UK Tour / Eventim Apollo

Farquaad not on his knees?

I've watched the trailer a few times and it looks OK, will have to see when I see the show in Manchester next week.

What a shame. I’m supposed to be going next week but if I don’t feel like it on the night I’ll probably sack it off if it’s that bad. 

Farquaad is supposed to be short. That’s the joke. Nobody is hating on short people as a result of seeing Farquaad in Shrek. 

I despair sometimes. 

WhatsOnStage teasing an announcement for tomorrow morning

x.com/whatsonstage/status/1724124973760155721?s=46

Such a random venue for them to keep putting these shows into, no?

My moneys on Jason Manford as Shrek

Tour cast reprising roles in London

It wasn’t all that when playing Drury Lane because they’d used a cheapo touring set, and it just diminishes every time it comes back. I suspect they’ll do away with costuming and make up next, asking everyone to imagine it, as if they’re reading the story book. If they’d at least coughed up for some z listers it might put a few more bums on seats?!

A few thoughts about last night's viewing in Liverpool. After early reports about the scaling back  and changes to the book  in this current tour I was in two minds whether to go and watch it but when some £13 price promise tickets in the front stalls came on sale late last week and after reading some a lot of positive reviews from the critics / bloggers from different stops along the tour I decided to give it a go. My view was that if I loved it, a bargain night at the theatre and if not then I haven't lost too much. Overall, I will say that despite some issues I had with the staging, there was plenty to be positive about with this current incarnation of Shrek The Musical to make my evening out at the Empire a positive one after the 2.5hr runtime.

Ok, there is no denying that in terms of staging this definitely is a scaled back production compared to the previous tour. With less physical sets on stage with this tour, the big video screen at the back of the stage does do a lot of work in creating settings but I will say that on the whole the combination of both the bits of set that there are along with the big video screen worked for me to help create the swap, castle etc. Though at times the screen did seem out of focus and jumpy (this was also noted by a blogger in an earlier review at another theatre). From where I was sat in row A of the stalls (5th row back), the large Empire stage certainly didn't seem empty with the sets and screen and cast on it. 


With respect to the changes to the book, not having the actor playing Lord Farquaad on his knees was definitely a big loss for me. This meant that all the jokes and associated humour with his stature of this character was lost from previous productions. Also, similar to a TB post about the Manchester stop, we had references early on to Liverpool city / Liverpool FC. I am not sure what the point of adding them in was. It really wasn't needed in the script TBH. 

So the big win for me in this tour was the entire cast. A really fantastic cast here bringing plenty of humour, sass and energy to proceedings to keep everybody entertained. With the full cast on last night, Antony Lawrence as Shrek and Joanne Clifton as Princess Fiona make a wonderful leading pairing with some great on stage chemistry and vocals. Despite my misgivings of the Lord F changes, James Gillan does a brilliant job in bringing the villain of the show to life bringing just the right amount of campness and selfishness to the role. As Donkey, Brandon Lee Sears has great comic timing and vocals as well. With a 21 piece ensemble, I really couldn't fault any them and the big ensemble numbers were a joy to watch with plenty of wit, charm and wonderful choreography as well. Of the ensemble, it was Cherece Richards as the Dragon whose vocals in Act 1 were for me were just gave me that wow factor in the show and her songs were genuine showstoppers and Georgie Buckland was fantastic in bringing Gingy to life.  

The score is played by a 7-piece orchestra and from my seat sounded fine with good sound mixing so not as to overpower the vocals. 

No Shrek show would be complete without the final song "I'm A Believer" playing and everyone was on their feet (myself included) singing and dancing along to end the night in a good mood. 

Overall, I whilst it may not have had the wow factor of staging, I would say give this one a go on a cheap ticket if you can. 

I must say I've never seen this on stage before and I feared the worse, but it is actually rather fun and enjoyable. I can't comment on the sets compared to other versions, but they seemed decent enough to me, and there's a good sized cast. James Gillan is easily the highlight, commanding the stage and so great to see him in a role outside Jamie, but Jonathan Dudley was doing his best to be as camp as possible as well. I got real Monty Python vibes for a lot of this.

Joanne Clifton is always faultless and she was a perfect Fiona here too. Todrick Hall was fun, seemed popular, and got cheers, but I'm not as familiar with him as others. Always good to spot Rory Shafford in any cast as well.

There's even a tap dancing scene.

I was lucky enough to pick up a central Row C (second row) ticket through Drops for £30, so can't complain. The Hammersmith Apollo wasn't as annoying to get as usual either, although there is a very long winding route around metal fences. They've finally moved the metal detectors outside, so it doesn't feel so cramped.

The audience mostly good, but there was some yelling from kids further back, so I was glad I was sat at the front. Even better, one of my favourite graduates from the year was in the front row. I was worried my character judgement was off when he was with a girl, but he gave such delightful screams when the music started by surprise each half that I'm fairly sure they were not romantically linked. The sound was a bit muffled at times, but I've had worse at the Apollo. There are a lot of bits that seem improvised, but I expect aren't.

I don't feel the need to see this again this run, but if there was a cheap ticket and I had nothing else on, I'd be quite happy to go again. I've no previous versions to compare this with, but I do suspect this is upgraded a bit compared to the tour. It doesn't feel cheap anyway, at least not from the front.

I’ve always liked it, apart from the cheapo puppet version I saw last tour.

That’s a quick seque for Todrick Hall from Burlesque to Shrek. I didn’t realise Burlesque had finished in Glasgow, and still not a proper review to be found.