[NEohioPAL] Review of "Shrek: The Musical" at Fine Arts Association

[Bob Abelman]

Fine Arts Association delivers a fun, familiar 'Shrek' 

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Morning Journal, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 11/29/13

 

 

"If you've seen one, you've seen them all."

 

At first blush, this age-old adage and all-purpose punch line can be aptly applied to the Fine Arts Association's current production of "Shrek: The Musical."  



After all, this stage production is based on the animated DreamWorks film about a lovable but loner ogre and his talkative side-kick, Donkey.  On stage and on screen, the two heroes rescue the feisty Princess Fiona from a dragon-infested tower and the height-challenged Lord Farquaad.  Along the way, they discover everlasting friendship and ever-after true love.  Both renditions embrace a fractured fairytale flamboyance that pokes wonderful fun at the iconic bedtime-story creatures that populate this world.

 

Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire sticks so close to the screenplay that the dialogue bears the character-defining trademarks of film actors Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, John Lithgow and Cameron Diaz, and should come in quotation marks.  Only the show's 19 original songs by Jeanine Tesori separate the two but, so as not to stray too far from the source material, both end with a full-company curtain call performance of "I'm a Believer."

 

This FAA production is also a replication of the "Shrek" staged by Mercury Summer Stock last June - same vision, direction and choreography by Pierre-Jacques Brault, same rented scenery, costuming and puppetry, and some of the same players inserted into the ensemble.

 

Fortunately, this "Shrek" also shares the unadulterated child-like playfulness of the MSS production and introduces different actors in each of the featured roles who work hard, and succeed, at bringing something unique to their well-established characters.  

 

The wonderful Melissa Sills is a delightfully assertive Fiona, which affords Dan Dicello's charming performance as Shrek a greater range of reactions, despite prosthetics seemingly designed to keep that from happening.  Their adorable, dueling gas-passing musical number "I Think I Got You Beat" is a perfect example of what these two have to offer.  Eugene Sumlin as Donkey and Justin Charles Schickler as Lord Farquaad are funny at every turn, delivering with sardonic pleasure many if not most of the cleverly embedded, adult-oriented musical theater in-jokes that are scattered throughout the production.

 

Although the play revolves around these four players, every ensemble musical number - nicely handled by music director Joanna Li and her small orchestra - is a celebration, complete with exceptional vocal talent and uninhibited, all-out exuberance.  "Story of My Life" brilliantly separates "Shrek" from other cartoon-inspired musicals by breaking the mold of fairytale character stereotypes and is a highlight in this production.  So, too is "Freak Flag," which boldly exults these characters' quirks.  

 

Yet, it is the small, stand-out performances that help separate this FAA production from any other.  One is delivered by Kayleigh Collins and Sydney Fieseler as younger versions of Fiona, who join Sills in the enchanting musical number "I Know It's Today" midway through the first act.  

 

Another comes in "Morning Person," when adorable tap dancing rats played by 3rd grader Lexie Hoiski, 4th grader Abby Bouton, 5th grader Hannah Wetklow, and 7th grader Brennen McGill take to the stage at the start of the second act.  The vermin oeuvre is choreographed by Talia Cosentino.

 

"You can never have too much of a good thing" is one more adage that applies to this production.  This "Shrek" is worth seeing and, for many of us, is worth seeing again.

 

"Shrek: The Musical" continues through December 15 at the Fine Arts Association's Corning Auditorium in Willoughby. For tickets, which are $15 to $25, call 440-951-7500 or visit www.fineartsassociation.org.
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