Step into the magical mythic tale of Shrek the Musical and follow him and his band of fairytale creatures on a journey with his beloved sidekick Donkey and his enchanted Princess Fiona as they save the Kingdom of Duloc from the evil Farquaad and find true love. Directed by Dean Callow.
This performance, although it may be performed by an amateur company, is anything but amateur. A show which is guaranteed to have audiences laughing, singing and shouting for more.
Audiences are captivated from the moment they enter the auditorium as the staging and set are eye catching and transport you into a magical wonderland. Then, you are hit with the most stunningly enchanting costumes which perfectly identify each individual character easily, full of colour, sparkle and pizazz.
The Musical Director Simon Pickup ties everything together seamlessly by orchestrating the beautiful 12 piece band to incorporate live music into this outstanding production.
Onto the main characters, of course, we need to start with the big man himself, Shrek (played by Dan Grimes) a wonderfully lovable portrayal, not once did he feel scary and you could see his heart throughout the performance. Vocally strong and with some amazing harmonies alongside his wonderful and equally vocal perfect co-stars. Beautifully contrasted in style but matched in authenticity, his beautiful princess Fiona (Jessica Bridge). Sweet but she packs a punch, slightly self centered at first but longing for her happy ending, you see the perfectionist in her ooze out. She can sing, dance and hit some spectacularly high notes. An overall outstanding performance.
One of my favourite characters Donkey (Liam Darbyshire) provided excellent delivery and comedic timing with a whole heap of sass which had the audience crying with laughter. Excellent physical theatre and movement with every line. A very energetic and excitable performance throughout. To top it all off, every story needs a villain and boy did this musical have one in the small but uncompromisingly bad Lord Farquaad (Kenneth McConaghy). For me, every moment he entered the stage he was a star. Captivating the audience with his camp, egotistical eccentricity and down right silliness. The physicality of his performance was outstanding as I know this would not be an easy character to portray physically for any length of time, but attitude, facial expressions and delivery were spot on.
The choreography (Rebecca Mainwaring ) overall was varied and interesting with some very imaginative displays, especially in the use of Farquaad and his dancers. Add in some amazing sound and lighting (Daniel McAllister and John Bonney) to add to the atmosphere and you couldn’t take your eyes off the stage.
The attention to detail in this production was outstanding. I won’t give anything away but the imaginative way the dragon and the gingerbread man is brought to life is very creative.
The main cast were supported by a fantastic chorus who individually and collectively stood out. When they performed as individual characters they took on the characters and made each one unique and as a whole cast, were in unison to perform bigger numbers to get the crowd going.
This was opening night and as you can tell it was amazing, a few opening night glitches with sound did not spoil this performance and I’m sure they will be ironed out for future performances. One not to be missed! This show will have you beaming from ear to ear and is guaranteed to bring joy to everyone who watches it.
Thank you for a spectacular evening.
Grab your tickets for Shrek The Musical, on until 17th May 2025 from https://www.quaytickets.com/thebrindley/en-GB/shows/shrek%20the%20musical/events/2
Reviewer: Stephanie Wiswall
Reviewed: 13th May 2025
North West End UK Rating: