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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Fine Arts Association
delivers a fun, familiar ‘Shrek’ <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald, Morning
Journal, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member, International
Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This review will
appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald</I> on
11/29/13<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>"If you've seen one, you've seen them all."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>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.” <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><BR
style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR
style="mso-special-character: line-break"></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>After all, this stage production is based on the animated </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">DreamWorks
film about a lovable but loner ogre and his talkative side-kick, Donkey.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>On stage and on screen, the two heroes
rescue the feisty Princess Fiona from a dragon-infested tower and the
height-challenged Lord Farquaad.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Along the way, they discover everlasting friendship and ever-after true
love.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Both renditions embrace a
fractured fairytale flamboyance that pokes wonderful fun at the iconic
bedtime-story creatures that populate this world.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">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 C</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>ameron Diaz, and </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">should
come in quotation marks</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Only the show’s
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">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.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">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.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
wonderful Melissa Sills is a delightfully assertive </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Fiona,
which affords Dan Dicello’s charming performance as Shrek a greater range of
reactions, despite </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">prosthetics
seemingly designed to keep that from happening.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Their adorable, dueling gas-passing
musical number “I Think I Got You Beat” is a perfect example of what these two
have to offer. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Eugene Sumlin
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">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.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">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 </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">uninhibited,
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">all-out
exuberance.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So, too is “Freak
Flag,” which boldly exults these characters’ quirks.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Yet,
it is the small, stand-out performances that help separate this FAA production
from any other.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Another
comes in “Morning Person,” when adorable tap dancing rats played by
3<SUP>rd</SUP> grader Lexie Hoiski, 4<SUP>th</SUP> grader Abby Bouton,
5<SUP>th</SUP> grader Hannah Wetklow, and 7<SUP>th</SUP> grader Brennen McGill
take to the stage at the start of the second act. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The vermin oeuvre is choreographed by
Talia Cosentino.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“You
can never have too much of a good thing” is one more adage that applies to this
production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This “Shrek” is worth
seeing and, for many of us, is worth seeing again.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“Shrek:
The Musical” continues through December 15 <SPAN
style="COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">at the Fine Arts Association’s
Corning Auditorium in Willoughby. For tickets, which are $15 to $25, call
440-951-7500 or visit <A href=""><B><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">www.fineartsassociation.org</SPAN></B></A>.</SPAN></SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>