Yes, it's real, and yes,
Shrek the Musical is coming to London. To the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
When you think about it this franchise isn't that far off a musical format anyway. It's not just that the films are known for soundtracks laden with heavily hummable songs, but some of the characters have been known to sing a bar or two, the story is a funny-family-friendly tale and there are lots of characters an audience of all ages will know and identify with.
The story translates well to the stage too: it's your basic 'loner boy goes on adventure and falls for the beautiful girl - who he thinks he can never have - but then ends up rescuing her from an unpleasant situation with a twist, and they all live happily ever after' plot. It comes with the added 'colour' that the 'boy' is a big green ogre and his friend and fellow adventurer is a talking
Donkey. If you've seen the film then you'll be glad to know that other characters-with-bite:
Dragon and the
Gingerbread Man, will be joining in the fray as well.
The London production stars
Nigel Lindsay - from
Four Lions as
Shrek,
Amanda Holden as
Princess Fiona,
Richard Blackwood as
Donkey and
Nigel Harman as
Lord Farquaad.
The Broadway production opened in December 2008 so they've had plenty of time to hone the pace and perfect the tunes so that they're most likely to stick in your head. One of the things that's changed since the premiere is that the song 'I'm a Believer' (also used in the film), has been moved into the show properly, rather than just being used as the feel good 'play out' as the audience leaves.
