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KANSAS CITY SHOWTIMES
July 30-31 Knoxville, TN Tennessee Theatre
August 2-4 Detroit, MI Fisher Theatre August 6-18 Toronto, ON Princess of Wales Theatre September 4-5 Pensacola, FL Saenger Theatre September 6-8 New Orleans, LA Saenger Theatre September 9 Conway, AR Reynolds Performance Hall September 12 Bangor, ME Cross Insurance Center September 13-15 Boston, MA Emerson Colonial Theatre September 19 Roanoke, VA Berglund Performing Arts Theatre September 20-22 Tysons, VA Capital One Hall September 24-25 Sarasota, FL Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall September 26 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall September 27-29 West Palm Beach, FL Kravis Center for the Performing Arts October 1 Baton Rouge, LA Riverside Centroplex October 2 Senatobia, MS Heindl Center for the Performing Arts October 3 Athens, GA Classic Center in Athens October 4 Evans, GA Columbia County Performing Arts Center October 5 Jacksonville, FL Center for the Performing Arts October 6 Spartanburg, SC Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium October 8 Oxford, AL Oxford Performing Arts Center October 10 Davenport, IA River Center Adler Theatre October 11-12 Madison, WI Overture Center for the Arts October 13 Lima, OH Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center October 15 Evansville, IN National Events Plaza October 16 St. Louis, MO Stifel Theatre October 17 Portsmouth, OH Riffe Center for the Arts October 20 Ames, IA Stephens Auditorium October 23 Grand Forks, ND Chester Fritz Auditorium October 24-26 Sioux Falls, SD Washington Pavilion October 28 Grand Rapids, MI Forest Hills Fine Arts Center October 29 Cedar Rapids, IA Paramount Theatre October 30 Champaign, IL State Farm Center November 2 Waukegan, IL The Genesee Theatre November 12-13 Yakima, WA Capitol Theatre November 15-16 Spokane, WA First Interstate Center for the Arts November 17 Bellingham, WA Mount Baker Theatre November 22-24 Costa Mesa, CA Segerstrom Center for the Arts Nov. 26 – Dec. 1 Las Vegas, NV Smith Center for the Performing Arts December 17-22 San Jose, CA San Jose Performing Arts Center December 27-29 Salt Lake City, UT Eccles Theatre Read More
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It’s good to be green--
The successful film franchise about the big green ogre with an even bigger heart comes to life for Shrek The Musical, a national tour production which plays Starlight Theatre in Kansas City for the weekend.
The musical is based on the first Oscar®-winning Dreamworks animated film (from 2001, which in turn was based on the 1990 children’s book from ex-New Yorker cartoonist William Steig) and tells of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey, alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty Princess Fiona who resists her rescue.
This musical adaptation first opened on Broadway in 2008 and ran through early 2010, featuring music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. The Broadway production received eight Tony Award® nominations including Best Musical and won the award for Best Costume Design for Tim Hatley.
This touring show has become recently refreshed by the creative team, with all-new original direction and choreography by Danny Mefford, and is filled with new orchestrations. This re-imagined production brings the show closer to its roots of showcasing an unexpected antihero who realizes his self-worth and shows the real value of love, friendship, and acceptance.
The show added a framing device to narrate the story, a group of people who have gathered together to present the story, and the swamp setting, fairytale characters and familiar scenes from the film unfolds. Favorite songs from the original production remain like "I Know It's Today" and "Who I'd Be", but pacing is also improved to avoid the show from dragging at non-musical points.
Like the film, the story, setting and dialogue appeals to all ages, with some humor purposely very childlike, and other jokes having a more adult context. The actors in their bright colored costumes delighted the children, who were also amazed to see characters read to them at bedtime like Little Bo Peep, the Gingerbread Man, and The Three Blind Mice, all come to life.
The second act began with a dance routine by a group of rats (with the Pied Piper) followed by a burp-off between Shrek and Fiona… which of course, the kids loved.
The lead trio of actors (Nicholas Hambruch, Cecily Dionne Davis, and Naphtali Yaakov Curry as Shrek, Fiona, & Donkey respectively) were all very entertaining and lived up to embodying the characteristics of the characters that we know from the animated films, with Hambruch doing a respectable “if it’s not Scottish, it’s crap” accent a la Mike Myers, and Curry mirroring the needed comic relief and attitude that Eddie Murphy made so memorable in the films.
The six-piece band, mostly hidden in a corner of stage left played well, even working in an instrumental of Counting Crows’ “Accidentally in Love”, but I’ll write something I never thought I would- I kind of missed that annoying Smash Mouth song (and maybe “I’m a Believer” too) And while Timmy Lewis played Lord Farquaad in the over-the-top, campy, primadonna way we expected, we still imagine him as overly short, like in the films.
An extra nod to the merchandising choices, as numerous in the crowd were wearing their green ear headbands, there was a full-size Gingerbread Man puppet (could maybe double as an oven mitt?) and even a fluid-filled pen that has Donkey running back and forth.
With a recent official announcement that a new Shrek film will hit movie theaters on July 1, 2026 (with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz returning as voices, and Murphy has also hinted at a Donkey standalone film as well) this is an ideal time to re-acquaint yourself with the franchise, and the Broadway touring version of Shrek The Musical is one to bring the entire family to.
(National Tour Photos provided by their website) / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
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| john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com |
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