The theatre show with a big heart and a big green ogre is one for kids to enjoy but also for the kid in every theatre-goer
SHREK THE MUSICAL AT SUNDERLAND EMPIRE
Shrek The Musical, Sunderland Empire, until February 11
You know the story and have probably seen the 2001 DreamWorks Animation movie so many times that the catchphrases have become a part of ordinary speech.
But you may (like me) have not shared your love with Shrek The Musical before and I am pleased to report that this stage version is a stand-alone success.
Shrek The Musical is a top-class touring production of a show originally produced on Broadway, and subsequently in London’s West End, by Dreamworks Theatricals.
Lyrics are clever yet simple and one memorable line from Who I’d Be has Shrek wishing to be a poet: “The moon would help with spelling, and the night would dot the ‘I’s.”
Musical numbers come thick and fast, 20 in total, but sadly there are no Lion King-calibre songs to hum on the way back.
Visually and technically, the production is flashily impressive – the set and costumes by Tim Hatley are amazing and I particularly enjoyed the use of puppets. The overly-friendly dragon with its four puppeteers is a great achievement and its movements wonderfully believable.
The entire dragon scene with its Monty Python-esque captured knights dancing in the stocks with their sequined jazz hands is very funny, and the humour throughout is maverick rather than cheesy.
On stage it’s officially a four-hander: Shrek (Steffan Harri) nails the Scottish accent given to Shrek by Mike Myers; Donkey (Marcus Ayton) has the best quips and Lord Farquaad (Samuel Holmes) is more Bertie Wooster than Ming the Merciless.
But the show stealer is Laura Main as Princess Fiona, who has appeared in all six series of BBC’s Call the Midwife.
She plays the tormented ogre-princess with verve and gusto and her tap dancing rats number, Morning Person, is a joy.
Besides the music, this production includes most of the important lines from the film – the onion, the Muffin Man, the short man gags – and so on.
And the show ends, as the film does, with The Monkees’ I’m a Believer. So I guess the only thing aficionados will miss is The Proclaimers’ I’m On My Way – which I hummed on the journey home.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/theatre-news/shrek-musical-how-laura-main-14240429
Sentebale are delighted to announce the return of our Christmas Carol Concert on Monday 10th December at Holy Trinity, Sloane Square.
Doors will open at 18.30 | Concert begins at 19.00
Join us for an evening of festive fun to celebrate and raise awareness of Sentebale’s work with children affected by HIV in southern Africa. This year’s Christmas Carol Concert will support our life-changing programmes addressing the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people affected by HIV in Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi. Fundraising initiatives like the Carol Concert enable Sentebale to continue the delivery of this vital work, and give even more children affected by HIV the bright future they deserve.
The programme will include an array of ever popular Christmas carols and seasonal readings by Sentebale Ambassador and star of BBC Call the Midwife, Laura Main, among others. All guests are invited to join Sentebale for a mince pie and winter warmer following the service.
The Sentebale 2018 Carol Concert is generously supported by The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Princess & Ko Luxury London Florist.
Buy tickets:
https://billetto.co.uk/en/e/sentebale-christmas-carol-concert-tickets-318501/
