The Green Ogre on Broadway

I'm glad I'm not an ogre, even after watching the happy ending of Shrek on Broadway. Ogres are sent away from their parents to assert their independence a full 10+ years earlier than humans (at age 7). Shrek forged a solitary lifestyle until the entire kingdom's worth of fairy tale characters were dumped on his land (AKA, swamp) because of the prince's decree against them. Shrek travels to appeal to the prince, and on the way meets a talking donkey who befriends him. Once at the palace he's promptly dispatched to go rescue the Princess Fiona, whom the prince had chosen as a bride. Fiona is locked away in a tower guarded by a dragon. Fast-forward a bit and Shrek falls in love with her after the rescue; Fiona also falls for Shrek. Then there's the fight and misunderstanding and almost-wedding to the prince, and then ultimately a happily ever after for the two (yes, two!) ogres.

I haven't seen the first of the three Shrek films for years, so I had slightly forgotten the plot before seeing the musical a week ago. I am fuzzy on the details of the movie, but I believe that the play followed the events of the film dutifully (although, of course, the film doesn't include multiple songs, like the musical does). The songs were average in terms of the lyrics and catchiness of the tunes; nothing stood out, and I wasn't humming any song from the evening after I exited the theater. However, the actual voices (singing) of the cast were superb. The costumes and scenery were vibrant and colorful, and if all of the costumes were not overly creative, it nevertheless was a treat to feast my eyes on the diverse fairy tale characters crowded on the stage during their scenes. (My favorite of these characters, the gingerbread man/boy, looked exactly like his counterpart in the movie. He tosses a few good lines back and forth with the prince when he's being tortured, regarding the muffin man.)

Like the film, the musical is not just for kids. (It's not even G rated as a film.) Many of the jokes will go over kids' heads, or at least I hope so, because otherwise kids are getting more jaded and too worldly before their time. Much of the musical's punch comes through mocking the traditional fairy tales and conservative values as expressed in the classic Disney animated films for decades. However, the high point of classic fairy tales -- boy wins girl, a happy romantic ending, and peace for the community as good defeats evil -- isn't relegated to the back shelf in Shrek, but instead rightfully reigns supreme, just as in the past, in this 'modern fairy tale.'