“Ogre-Sized” Show May Be Too Big For Broadway
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“Ogre-Sized” Show May Be Too Big For Broadway
To all “Shrek” fans out there that want to experience the hit movie performed in person, “Shrek” on Broadway is the closest thing you’re going to get to it. Don’t get me wrong, the Broadway version of the originally animated motion picture is definitely a great show, but it seems as if this “Ogre-sized” show may be too big to be performed on stage.
For the record, “Shrek” is not bad overall. Director Jason Moore does his best to make the hit film, first produced in 2000, take an easy transition from the big screen to the big stage. Unfortunately, as is with many motion pictures gone Broadway, “Shrek” becomes somewhat “watered down” as the once-animated characters are replaced in the form of costumes filled with actual human flesh.
In previous years, the masterpiece “Lion King” as well as “The Little Mermaid” have both made an excellent transition onto Broadway. “Shrek,” however, has made more of a “Tarzan”-like transition. When it made its first appearance on Broadway in 2006, “Tarzan” was criticized for not being able to take all the hype it had as a movie to the big stage. It didn’t matter how much money was put into it; there had just been too much “swinging” and it was not able to keep our attention focused. “Shrek,” although not for the same reasons, is just as unsuccessful in making its move to Broadway.
Jokes and lessons that run smoothly and passively throughout the original movie often linger and get old and boring. Morals about learning to appreciate what is on the inside rather than outer beauty and keeping self-esteem no matter what obstacles are faced are presented shortly in the movie, while on Broadway they are augmented in the form of lengthy songs, which get tiresome. David Lindsay-Abaire, head of Book & Lyrics of the show and 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama in his play Rabbit Hole, does a decent job transforming the initial screenplay into an on-stage musical. However, despite his expertise and experience, Lindsay-Abaire cannot truly take the play to the next level while his ballads of ethics become almost irritating at points in comparison to how they are briskly presented in the original motion picture.
The fact that performers have to dress up to bear a resemblance to the movie’s fairy-tale creatures is also an issue in “Shrek’s” transition to Broadway. Brian D’Arcy James, who plays the main character “Shrek” on stage, is himself a tremendous actor, yet we are unable to appreciate the character he plays on stage as much as Mike Meyer’s original voice-overed animation. He, in a way, “competes with his costume” as he is so covered up in makeup and padding that his acting potential for the part is actually hindered.
James is not the only actor who is unable to live up to his animated counter-part; “Lord Farquaad”, played by Christopher Seaver, also fails to meet expectations. Normally a tall actor, Seaver portrays the midget king by playing his role entirely on his knees, with his legs (so blatantly obvious that they are fake) dangling behind him. Daniel Breaker, who plays Shrek’s partner in adventure “Donkey”, is not much different in his role: Instead of the original animated “Donkey,” an actual donkey that walks on four legs and talks as well, Breaker walks on two feet for the duration of the show, holding his arms limply against his chest. They may be good actors, but James, Seaver, and Breaker just don’t culminate to leave us with the same taste we are left with after watching the original movie. The exception may be “Princess Fiona,” played by actress Sutton Foster, who is truly able to steal the show with her powerful solo songs and who’s character and required costume do not hinder her ability to act remarkably as the beautiful princess.
“Shrek” movie fanatics very well will enjoy this on-stage remake, but in the end the facts are inevitable to ignore: This show may just be too big for Broadway.
