Shrek the Musical – Eventim Apollo

Picture: Marc Brenner

Shrek the Musical continues at the Eventim Apollo, London until 31 August 2024.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Every show should know its audience. Shrek the Musical begins its six-week run at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo at the start of UK schools’ six-week break, and that is no coincidence. But the timing is interesting in another way. At the performance I attended the auditorium contained a lot of millennials who – judging by their broad grins and cosplay – clearly grew up loving the 2001 DreamWorks animated film. Some had their young families in tow, but some did not. This was the passing of the torch of a beloved piece of entertainment, and the scene was adorable.

Shrek itself, as you may remember, is not. Sure, it contains plenty of cuteness in its cavalcade of fairy tale characters and colourful outfits, but what made the original film such a success was its cheeky sense of humour, the feeling that this was a bit more edgy than your typical Disney feature, the fart jokes that made your parents turn the television off in disgust.

Mega-fans will be delighted that this musical adaptation (book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori) remains faithful to the spirit of the original. Many jokes return in their entirety and the plot is identical. Considering the musical premiered in 2008, its humour holds up pretty well. Sadly, the pro-acceptance message anthems like ‘Let your freak flag fly’ are more pertinent than ever.

Obviously, transfiguring scenes such as epic dragon battles for the stage requires a great deal of creativity and budget. Directors Samuel Holmes and Nick Winston have a big stage and a lot to play with. Philip Witcomb’s sets and costumes are nothing short of spectacular, and even the projection work by Nina Dunn is highly effective, avoiding the flattening effect that over-reliance on this technology too often creates.

Musical director Mike Cotton’s band is small at seven musicians, but with strong arrangements and tastefully programmed keys, the rock-centric score sounds fittingly enormous. Many of Tesori’s songs are verging on musical theatre classic status at this point, and it is a joy to hear them performed so expertly.

Antony Lawrence is superb in the title role, imbuing the hygiene-challenged ogre with vivaciousness and pathos. Strictly Come Dancing favourite Joanne Clifton as Princess Fiona naturally excels in choreographer Winston’s dance sequences, but also impresses with her strong voice and willingness to be just as silly – and downright rude – as the ogre himself. James Gillan plays Lord Farquaad with a winning streak of campiness and Todrick Hall is allowed to steal scenes as a hilarious, honey-voiced, more-jump-splits-than-you-would-expect-from-an-equine Donkey.

The Eventim Apollo’s stage is large, but this production’s cast of talented performers threatens to overwhelm it at times. Cherece Richards as the Dragon, Dylan Collymore as Pinocchio and Tamara Tare as Gingy stand out with simply stunning vocals, but the entire ensemble is superb.

Of course, for all the inventive staging, catchy songs and incredible performances, your enjoyment of this show could come down to where you sit. The humungous Eventim Apollo is not a venue known for its intimacy, and you are likely to be sat far closer to children having a temper tantrum or shouting at the actors on stage than the performers themselves.

Sound designer Ben Harrison makes full use of the venue’s sound system – designed for rock concerts – to keep the onstage action audible. Even so, the cast still shouts and over-enunciates dialogue, cognisant of the futility of subtlety at a show like this. This is a big, loud, panto-adjacent spectacle. If you book with this in mind and don’t mind paying a little extra for seats where you can at least maintain a strong visual connection with the characters onstage, you (and your family) will surely have a good time.

But frankly, a review telling you what to expect at a summer holiday Eventim Apollo performance of Shrek the Musical is patronising, in a way that the show itself is expressly not. It delivers spectacle, toilet humour, cuteness and a quotidian but time-tested plot without apology. For the small handful of children misbehaving in the auditorium, hundreds more are sat in rapt silence, enthralled by the adventure unfolding onstage and beginning a lifetime of love for the limitless medium that is musical theatre.

Ian Bowkett