Theater review: Strong leads, raucous songs make FACs ‘Shrek’ a fabulous escape
Despite all the obstacles that real life provides, we all seem to be looking for our personal piece of happily ever after.
The Fine Arts Center production of “Shrek: The Musical” can’t promise a full-blown life transformation. But it delivers the hope that such things are possible – and that everyone deserves them. This is true for a wooden boy, a wicked witch or, in this case, a curmudgeonly ogre, who is sadly told otherwise before his parents send him packing at age 7.
“When you’re grotesque, life is Kafkaesque,” they explain in “Big Bright Beautiful World.” “Every dream comes true, but not for you.”
Based on William Steig’s book from 1990 and the 2001 hit film “Shrek,” David Lindsay-Abaire’s book and lyrics (with music by Jeanine Tesori) gleefully explodes the accepted “rules and strictures” of the common fairy tale with humor, intelligence and plenty of fart jokes for the kids. Granted, its trajectory may be pure Disney, but it’s by way of Tim Burton.
On opening night of director Nathan Halvorson’s production, most of the pieces – Lex Liang’s costumes, Halvorson’s choreography, music direction by Jerry McCauley, Emma Dean’s props, Jonathan Eberhardt’s hair and makeup design, and Christopher L. Sheley’s set design – beautifully echo Lindsay-Abaire’s amusingly self-aware lyrics.
If only the FAC theater’s acoustics allowed everyone to hear them easily.
There were some missteps that night. Sound issues were mostly minor, but included dead mics for a few characters. Benign wardrobe malfunctions popped up throughout. Shrek’s makeup design was good, although the color oddly patchy, and by the end of the show, the seal of one prosthetic had apparently lifted from perspiration. The puppetry was also a little rough in places.
Even so, “Shrek: The Musical” is consistently funny – visually and otherwise – and creates many masterful performances, often bridging the occasional dud of a tune. While the talented supporting cast are critical to the work’s success (check out the boisterous “Freak Flag”), the leads are the engine that makes the FAC performance go.
While David J. Wiens’ Shrek is a bit more dude than monster for most of the 150-minute musical, Maggie Davenport, as Fiona, deserves an action figure – spunky and controlling, a tomboy, a rocker and a princess, all under one crown. Her “I Know It’s Today” – with a young Fiona (Ella McCauley) and teen Fiona (Arielle Miagkov), both terrific – is among the best moments of the night. Likewise, Wiens’ “When Words Fail,” in Act II, emotionally reveals his character’s deeper vulnerability. And as they fall in love, they nail it with “I Think You Got You Beat,” a raucous tune that pits the low points of their terrible childhoods a la “Anything You Can Do” from “Annie Get Your Gun.”
Danny Wilfred channels the irrepressible Donkey as joy on the hoof. Acrobatic and possessing an expressive voice, Wilfred dances, leaps and emotes in songs like “Make a Move” with verve and impressive physicality. And incredibly, while wearing a donkey suit (one of the show’s best costumes). Fabulous.
Perhaps the biggest laughs, though, were had by Max Ferguson, a local actor who plays Lord Farquaad. Without giving away the gag, his turn as the evil wannabe king is astonishingly demanding, a fact that Ferguson masks (or exploits) with a gift for comedy and a voice that tilts jukeboxes in a five-state area. I was happy to see him on that stage.
FAC Theater “Shrek” Wednesday November 30, 2016. Photo by Jeff Kearney.
Tracy Mobley-Matinez Saturday December 13, 2014. Photo by Jeff Kearney
FAC Theater “Shrek” Wednesday November 30, 2016. Photo by Jeff Kearney.