Shrek the Musical review – a muddy spectacle that leaves you green with laughter | Theatre

YYou could have entered the Emerald City. The art deco auditorium of the Apollo in Hammersmith is bathed in green light, the stage draped in ivy. But we meet an ogre, not a wizard, and, since it’s Shrek, he’s in the outhouse, taking a poo.

There’s still plenty of humour in this revival of Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2008 musical, based on William Steig’s book and the 2001 Oscar winner, now playing in London after a UK and Irish tour. With a thunderous narration, it’s performed at pantomime volume and accompanied by random pantomime thematic references (to Jude Bellingham and Baby Reindeer). There are a few playful performances – and Cherece Richards is on fire with a sensational singing voice as the Dragon – but the show bogs down in its muddy monotony and often unmemorable songs.

The best number, Story of My Life, with Pinocchio and other fairy-tale characters lamenting their fate, comes early. Freak Flag, the same ensemble’s This Is Me-style emancipation anthem, fails to blow the roof off later in the evening. Shrek’s friend Donkey channels Otis Redding and advises his pal to sing a few bars of Try a Little Tenderness in the animated film; onstage, in a furry suit, Todrick Hall looks more like Isaac Hayes as he dons sunglasses while playfully imploring the ogre to open his heart to Princess Fiona. In the film, Mr. Hood’s merry men have veered from Riverdance to West Side Story brawling to old-school razzle-dazzle; The musical hits a high note with Fiona and the Pied Piper’s number featuring a rodent chorus line and gives Lord Farquaad (James Gillan) some humorous rearing guards.

Farquaad, who is mocked in the film for his short stature, has been played by an actor on his knees before. That’s not the case here, but the production didn’t address the issue of the character’s presentation, oddly skimming over certain sections. Fiona’s comments about his “kind of bipolar” appearance were not cut.

The musical adds a prologue, with seven-year-old Shrek sent to his own fate by his parents, linking his years of isolation to those of Fiona, banished to a tower block since the same age. Sparks don’t fly as they should in their duet I Think I Got You Beat, and there’s never a hint of romance in the air, but Antony Lawrence and Joanne Clifton convey the duo’s zany humour, with their burping battle a crowd-pleaser.

Co-directed by Samuel Holmes and choreographer Nick Winston, with projections by Nina Dunn and sets and costumes by Philip Witcomb, the show often feels unadventurous, as evidenced by its lackluster bridge-crossing sequence. Onions and ogres have layers, we’re told, in a line from the film. This musical? Not so much.