Review: Jekyll & Hyde [UK Tour]

Musical: Jekyll & Hyde [UK Tour]
Venue: Grand Theatre, Leeds, UK
Date: 27th July 2011
Cast: Marti Pellow (Dr. Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde), Sarah Earnshaw (Emma Carew), Sabrina Carter (Lucy Harris), David Delve (Sir Danvers Carew), Mark McGee (John Utterson), Amira Matthews (Lady Beaconsfield/Nellie), Jacob Chapman (Lord Savage/Spider), Michael Taibi (Simon Stride), Martin Dickinson (General Glossop), Matt Stevens (Sir Archibald Proops), Jon de Ville (Bishop of Basingstoke)
Rating: *


Review:
I enjoyed Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical and have followed its past and future incarnations ever since I first saw it in Chattanooga back in 2000. However, it is that kind of musical where you either love it or totally hate it. Critics seem to go with the latter one as can be seen from its 1997 Tony Awards outcome and its reception since. With 2 concept recordings and a countless number of professional cast recordings and productions in USA, Europe and Asia, it is far from a perfect musical but each incarnation is different and interesting in its own rights. So it seems that nowadays, a production of Jekyll & Hyde can be comprised of any songs in any of the 3 main cast recordings (1990 concept album with Colm Wilkinson, 1994 complete album with Anthony Warlow and 1997 Broadway cast album with Robert Cuccioli) up to the director's decision.


The current Bill Kenwright's touring production of Jekyll & Hyde marks the 2nd UK Tour of the musical after the horrible 1st UK Tour in 2004 starring Paul Nicholas I saw on YouTube. I was looking forward to the show very much since it boasted the fame of ex-Wet Wet Wet leading man, Marti Pellow and 2 former West End's Wicked cast members, Sarah Earnshaw and Sabrina Carter. However, it turned out that the production was another huge disappointment beyond my imagination. I love the show and I love the material despite its flaws and I usually can tolerate bad production of it but this was just the most painful production of the show I've ever seen.

The 2004 Jekyll & Hyde production starring Paul Nicholas

The weakest link of the show was Marti Pellow as the dual roles of title character. He made David Hasselhoff sound like Anthony Warlow. I have seen him in Chess DVD but I would never imagine him to be this bad. And this really hurt the show because his characters were the one that had to carry the whole show but he just couldn't achieve that task. To call his acting "stiff" would be an understatement. The man just really needed some serious acting lesson.

His vocal range and tone didn't suit neither characters and he seemed to slur through every song which was really annoying. His "Transformation" was the worst that I've seen, but maybe that was the fault of the director too. It didn't look like he was transforming into something, just prancing round the stage and pulling out some hair and voila, he's Hyde!... Yeah, right! There isn't a single song that he performed well in the show. He even forgot a verse of the lyrics in "Confrontation" and just hummed through the music. I also didn't like how he portrayed Hyde at all. He made Hyde such a horny character and nothing more. I really hated how Hyde would constantly be portraying sexual interaction with Lucy every time they met (she's a whore, we got it!). It was just disturbing to see notably in "Dangerous Game" and the reprise of "Sympathy, Tenderness". I could see many disapproving face in the audience as well.

Marti Pellow as Dr. Henry Jekyll
during "Transformation"

Marti Pellow's promotional shot as Edward Hyde
(If only he would look like this on stage!)

Sarah Earnshaw and Sabrina Carter were Emma and Lucy. They both were taken from the current Wicked company in London so I had my expectations up quite high for them since they both were standby for Glinda and understudy for Elphaba respectively. Though not as bad as Marti Pellow, their performance was pretty mediocre with Carter being a little bit better especially in "Bring on the Men". Their acting still needed a lot of work and I didn't know if it was due to sound system or what, their voices, though quite nice, were very unpleasant to listen to through the microphones making "In His Eyes" such a painful song to live through. I don't know why but I kept feeling tired after each and every song that these actors were singing and that was not a sign of a good time at the theatre at all.

Marti Pellow and Sarah Earnshaw as Henry Jekyll and Emma Carew
during "Take Me as I Am"

Sabrina Carter as Lucy Harris

Sarah Earnshaw and Sabrina Carter in their Wicked days
(as standby for Glind and understudy for Elphaba respectively)

Our Utterson, Mark McGee, had a lovely voice but his acting was still very stiff and recited. Amira Matthews was alright as Lady Beaconsfield if a bit too screechy at times in "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch" and the number at the "Hospital Board". However, she didn't look the part of Nellie at all and it was really weird to see her dancing as one of the ensemble during "Bring on the Men". Jacob Chapman was quite funny as "Lord Savage" with his feminine take on the role but his "Spider" was quite creepy and, again, disturbing, to see. The ensemble, though possessing quite better vocal ability than the leads, didn't seem to come together well and made most ensemble numbers pretty messy, both vocally and emotionally. There I would blame the director as well. "Facade", "Murder, Murder!" and "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch" were all plain bad and the keys were obviously too high and most cast members were screeching to reach those notes.

Marti Pellow and Mark McGee as Dr. Jekyll and his best friend, John Utterson

The ensemble in "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch"

The ensemble in "Murder, Murder!"

I really do try to find the good out of this really bad production but I seemed to not be able to. I mean the scenery was ok and fairly impressive for a touring production. I like how they utilized the mirror to reflect Hyde (think Phantom in the mirror). But that's pretty much all the good things I could think of from the production I saw because I felt that the rest of the directions was just like a high school production (if not worse).


The choice of music was quite interesting which I would elaborate quite a lot here to capture what songs were chosen into this particular production. It seemed that they chose a fairly equal amount of songs from the 1994 version and the 1997 with some that they mixed between both versions and some totally rearranged. (See my musical numbers below for full list of songs and the version they came from based on my understanding.)

Marti Pellow and Sabrina Carter as Dr. Jekyll and Lucy
during "Sympathy, Tenderness"

Some interesting choice here was having (an abridged version of) "I Need to Know" after Jekyll's proposition was rejected from the Hospital Board. Same as most productions after the Broadway run, this production chose "Bring on the Men" as Lucy's opening number rather than the Broadway's "Good and Evil". Before "This Is the Moment", they chose to use a verse of "now there is no choice" and then went into "when this all began, we knew there'd be a price" first before actually starting "This Is the Moment" which was kinda pointless to me. They should have just picked one over the other. The arrangement for "Alive" was the worst I've heard and with Marti Pellow's poor acting skill didn't help much. Instead of 'Lucy Meets Hyde", they also decided to do a verse from "Dangerous Game" which seemed kinda out of place to me. "His Work and Nothing More!" was totally revamped starting with Emma and Sir Danvers arguing about Jekyll in his home, then left and then a short conversation between Poole and Utterson and then Jekyll came out and they did Utterson and Jekyll part of the song and end with Utterson alone singing "I pray you may..." bit.

"Bring on the Men"
(Oh, what a hideous costume!)

Marti Pellow as Edward Hyde during "Alive"

"Murder, Murder!" seemed to be a mix between the 2 versions, started with 1997 version but ended with 1994 version where there was the "Sweet death has taken this brave man..." bit before the end. "The Way Back" started with "Am I a good man..." bit with the tempo being fairly slow plus a key change at the last verse (think "With One Look" in Sunset Boulevard). Another rather strange choice here was after Lucy's death, instead of a reprise of Facade, they chose to have Nellie sang "Girls of the Night" as they figured out what to do with Lucy's body...?  Again, totally out of place! I don't think I know what they did to her body in the end. And again there was another undecided choice before "Confrontation". They used "It's Over Now" and then went into "Lost in the Darkness" before staring "Confrontation". My gosh, the creative team just needed to make up their minds.

The screechy newsboy in "Murder, Murder!"

"Confrontation" was done 1994 style where Marti just sang the Jekyll part to previously-recorded Hyde part. He first sang it with his reflection in the mirror which grown into a huge projection on the window. Visually, this was OK, I guess, though I much prefer the 1997 version where the actor was required to sing both parts live to test his ability as an actor. Again, Marti acted the part poorly and actually forgot the verse to the song. I guess it would be a nightmare if he had to sing both parts. He didn't sing the last "Never" but drank the potion and said "Free" instead, probably to indicate that he had won over Hyde? Then we had Emma singing a pointless reprise of "In His Eyes" with new lyrics (costume change purpose?) as she prepared for the wedding and forgave Jekyll. The wedding was pretty much like 1997 version. After Jekyll died, the ensemble sang the requiem "Mass" (which can be heard just before "Murder, Murder!" in the 1994 version) before Emma sang her "you are free now..." bit.

"Confrontation"
with Marti Pellow singing to his pre-recorded Hyde

The Finale

I mean by the end of the show, I really didn't know how to response to the actors during their curtain call. I clapped a bit but didn't feel satisfied or approved of the production at all. There were people jumping and screaming for Marti which annoyed me even more to the point where I just stopped clapping and was ready to leave the theatre. Needless to say more, I hated the production and everyone should just stay away from it, period! Now would you please excuse me, I need to put my Anthony Warlow's recording on to erase that horrible experience off my head!

The curtain call

MUSICAL NUMBERS (based on my own listing, not from the programme)
ACT ONE
Lost in the Darkness**... Jekyll
Facade*... Ensemble
The Hospital Board**... Jekyll and the Hospital Board
Pursue the Truth**... Jekyll and Utterson
I Need to Know*... Jekyll
Bitch, Bitch, Bitch*... Ensemble
The Engagement Party Part 1*... Sir Danvers and Stride
Emma Carew**... Stride and Emma
The Engagement Party Part 2*... Stride, Jekyll and Ensemble
I Must Go On**... Jekyll and Emma
Take Me As I Am**... Jekyll and Emma
Facade (Reprise)***... Ensemble
Bring on the Men*... Lucy and Ensemble
Lucy Meets Jekyll**... Lucy and Jekyll
This Is the Moment**... Jekyll
Transformation**... Jekyll/Hyde
Alive**/Dangerous Game (Preview)***... Hyde and Lucy
His Work and Nothing More!***... Emma, Sir Danvers, Utterson and Jekyll
Sympathy, Tenderness**... Lucy
Someone Like You**... Lucy
Alive (Reprise)**... Hyde

ACT TWO
Murder, Murder!***... Ensemble
Once upon a Dream**... Emma
Reflections*... Jekyll
In His Eyes**... Lucy and Emma
Dangerous Game**... Lucy and Hyde
Facade (Reprise)**... Spider
The Way Back**... Jekyll
A New Life**... Lucy
Sympathy, Tenderness (Reprise)**... Hyde
The Girls of the Night***... Nellie and Girls
Confrontation*... Jekyll/Hyde
In His Eyes (Reprise)***... Emma
Mass*/Finale**... Emma and Ensemble

* from 1994 Complete Cast version
** from 1997 Original Broadway Cast version
*** rearranged/mixed of the 2 versions

Review: Blood Brothers [UK Tour]

Musical: Blood Brothers [UK Tour]
Venue: Grand Theatre, Leeds, UK
Date: 20th July 2011 at 14:30
Cast: Niki Evans (Mrs. Johnstone), Craig Price (Narrator), Sean Jones (Mickey), Chris Carswell (Eddie), Tracy Spencer (Mrs. Lyons), Kelly-Anne Gower (Linda), Daniel Taylor (Sammy) and Tim Churchill (Mr. Lyons)
Rating: ****1/2


Review:
Blood Brothers is one of West End's long-running musicals and I had my first experience with the show last year at its West End home at the Phoenix Theatre. That time I missed seeing X Factor's finalist Niki Evans in the role of Mrs. Johnstone and got an understudy instead (though her performance was nothing short of excellent). So this time as Blood Brothers starring Niki Evans came to Leeds, I couldn't resist myself from going again to see how good she could be in this highly demanding role. I need to be frank here that my first experience with Blood Brothers wasn't too good. I only knew a few songs and loose storyline. The outcome was I could hardly understand half of what the actors were saying because of the Liverpool accent and I didn't enjoy the music as much though I must admit that the final scene was really moving and excellently-done.

This time I came prepared having read the full script of the show and listening to the cast recording beforehand in order to make sure that I would be able to follow the story. And this production of Blood Brothers made me realize what a beautiful piece of theatre it truly is. The script was well-written and I really liked all the symbolisms and metaphors that they were making now that I could understand what was said. I must admit that the accent still got to me and I was still a bit confused by some scenes as to what they were saying especially with the "kids" but overall I understood a lot more of the story this time around. (Note: I wouldn't recommend the show to non-native speakers who are not used to Liverpool accent unless they educate themselves with the synopsis or read the scripts first because it will turn out to be a boring 3 hours of your life if you can't understand what they are saying.)

Niki Evans as Mrs. Johnstone
during "Easy Terms"

Blood Brothers tells the story of Mrs. Johnstone, a mother who bore twins but couldn't keep both of them so she gave one to her boss, Mrs. Lyons, who couldn't have a child. The twins were raised apart and Mrs. Johnstone, who was very superstitious, was forced to conceal the identity of the children due to a superstition that if the twins knew who they were, they would die immediately. The show followed the lives of the twins from the age of seven to their teenage years and to their adulthood until an unevitably tragic ending was presented to the audience.

The production was very identical to the ones in London. The scenes were beautifully and cleverly designed and I think I liked it better that they put the orchestra in the pit rather than visible to the audience on the stage like in London. I also loved how simple the show was in terms of telling the story using a narrator and a small ensemble playing several roles. I also adored the overall flow of the show that it allowed the audience to applause only twice and that was towards the end of each act. However, I still found the show to be somewhat dragging especially in the second act and though many songs have grown on me, some were still pretty mediocre and boring.

Niki Evans was a brilliant Mrs. Johnstone. She played the role in the more subtle way compared to Vivienne Carlyle whom I saw in London but it was very effective. She had the stage presence that could control the attention of the audience throughout the show and she totally nailed every song. Her "Easy Terms" was very moving and I didn't remember being this moving very early on in the show. She simply shone in every number that she did whether it's the numerous "Marilyn Monroe", "Light Romance" and the powerful "Tell Me It's Not True".

Mrs. Johnstone (Niki Evans) hugged Mickey (Stephen Palfreman whom I saw in London) 

Craig Price was our narrator and he was good but not as good as the other narrator I've seen. He didn't seem mysterious enough and the way he spoke, it was not strong and convincing enough as the narrator who "seemed to know" what was gonna happen. His singing was fine but his "Shoes upon the Table" could have been stronger emotionally and vocally. However, I found that his performance developed throughout the show and he did present a very powerful ending towards the end of the show.

Niki Evans and Craig Price as Mrs. Johnstone and the Narrator
during "Shoes upon the Table"

Sean Jones was an amazing Mickey. I remembered not liking how adults played the seven-year-old kids the first time I saw it because I felt that it was just weird. But Sean played it really well and it was really believable that I was actually believe that he was a kid. He also portrayed the different ages and states of mind of Mickey very well especially as the depressive adult Mickey.

Sean Jones as Mickey (seen here with Marti Webb)

Chris Carswell played Eddie. Now that I didn't like. He portrayed Eddie as such a girlish geeky boy (think Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory, he also looked like him!) and he couldn't seem to drop that personality even when he's grown up. I don't know. I don't feel that that was the kind of guy that Mickey would be jealous of and that Linda would fall for. He had some good and cute moments and all but I just didn't enjoy his performance at all.

Mickey and Eddie and their famous Blood Brothers handshake
(seen here with Sean Jones and Paul Davies)

Tracy Spencer was our Mrs. Lyons and though she was not as good as Rebekah Clifford (an understudy whom I saw in London), she was still bloody good. I totally bought it when she just broke down and turned mad after trying to kill Mrs. Johnstone. She had a lovely singing voice too as can be heard during "My Child" but I think it needed some working in terms of emotion.

Kelly-Anne Gower was a very very good Linda and the ways that she portrayed the girl Linda, the teenage Linda and the adult Linda were very effective and we totally believed that she was really going through those adolescent phases. Daniel Taylor and Tim Churchill as Sammy and Mr. Lyons were also very good.

Daniel Taylor and Sean Jones as Sammy and Mickey
during the robbery scene

(Front row) Daniel Taylor as Sammy, Sean Jones as Mickey
and Kelly-Anne Gower as Linda
during "Kids Game"

Since it was a Wednesday matinee performance, the audience was comprised of two groups of people, really old people and students. I was quite curious to find out how they would react to the show and I got my answer at the end of the show *SPOILER ALERT* where the twins died . It was supposed to be a dramatic moment but the kids were laughing probably because of the unexpected loud gunshots and how they both died at the same time and they couldn't stop laughing even when the narrator already went on to recite his signature line despite the many "shhhh!"s that was going on. It was annoying but I just blocked them out and tried really hard to focus on the show. *SPOILER ENDS*

Overall, I really enjoyed this production of Blood Brothers a lot. I don't think that there's any problem with the London ones that made me not like it but it was just that I was well-prepared for the show this time so I was able to absorb the emotions and the story better. So did most audience members, I had tears in my eyes and lumps in my throat at the finale which was a tragic but also powerful ending even though you know what was coming. You know it was good theatre when you could just cry and felt so happy about it being able to touch and move you. And that's a real proof of what a beautiful piece of theatre BLOOD BROTHERS really is. I wouldn't hesitate going to see it again if I have the chance and neither should you!

"Tell Me It's Not True"

MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT ONE
Overture... Orchestra
Marilyn Monroe... Mrs. Johnstone
My Child... Mrs. Lyons and Mrs. Johnstone
Easy Terms... Mrs. Johnstone
Shoes upon the Table... Narrator
Easy Terms (Reprise)... Mrs. Johnstone
Kids Game... Sammy, Linda, Mickey and Ensemble
Shoes upon the Table (Reprise)... Narrator
Bright New Day (Preview)... Mrs. Johnstone
Long Sunday Afternoon/My Friend... Mickey and Eddie
Bright New Day... Mrs. Johnstone and Full Company


ACT TWO
Marilyn Monroe (Reprise)... Mrs. Johnstone
Shoes upon the Table (Reprise)... Narrator
That Guy... Mickey and Eddie
Shoes upon the Table (Reprise)... Narrator
I'm Not Saying a Word... Eddie
Miss Jones... Mr. Lyons, Miss Jones and Ensemble
Marilyn Monroe (Reprise)... Mrs. Johnstone
Light Romance... Mrs. Johnstone and Narrator
Shoes upon the Table (Reprise)/Madman... Narrator
Tell Me It's Not True... Mrs. Johnstone and Full Company



Reviews: Evita 2010 vs. Evita 2011

Musical: Evita [UK Tour]
Date: 11th September 2010
Venue: The Lowry, Salford, UK
Cast: Natalie Langston (alt. Eva), Mark Powell ( Che), Mark Heenehan (Peron), Abigail Matthews (Mistress) and Nic Gibney (Magaldi)
Rating: ***


Date: 12th July 2011
Venue: Grand Theatre, Leeds, UK
Cast: Abigail Jaye (Eva), Mark Powell (Che), Earl Carpenter (Peron), Sasha Ransley (Mistress) and Reuben Kaye (Magaldi)
Rating: ***1/2


Reviews:
Last year I saw Bill Kenwright's production of Evita at the Lowry in Salford which unfortunately, I didn't write any review of it. This year, the production came by Leeds and since I had an evening all to myself, I decided to revisit the musical once again. So this review will mainly be a comparison between the two performances of the same (but not quite the same) production.

Productionwise, the two shows I saw were pretty much identical. I think the stage designs were quite impressive. I think the production utilizes the many staircases very well. However, I feel that the visibility of the backstage team as they wheeled and locked the sceneries was somewhat distracting. The choreography was quite good if a bit confusing in some scenes especially in "Peron's Latest Flame". I didn't recall some of the choreography that I saw in Leeds but maybe it was there but I just didn't remember them, that's all. The costumes were quite outdated and uninspiring and the wigs were, frankly, horrible.

"Buenos Aires"

In the role of Eva Peron, Natalie Langston an alternate Eva, assumed the role when I saw the show in Salford while in Leeds, I got to see Abigail Jaye. Vocally, Jaye was definitely stronger and brought quite an interesting dimension to the character. She played a more "mean" Eva than Langston. Langston, on the other hand, was very "LuPone-ish" in her appearance and vocal. Though slightly inferior than Jaye, I think she still performed the role quite well. My little issue with Jaye was that she was a bit harsh in her interpretation of the character and it was kinda difficult to sympathise for the character in later scenes especially in an emotional piece like "You Must Love Me" while Langston's rendition of it did bring me to tears. Both "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"s were the highlights of the evening, though Jaye's version maybe a tiny bit better.

Abigail Jaye

 

Natalie Langston as Eva Peron
during "High Flying, Adored"

Abigail Jaye's "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"

Natalie Langston's "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"

Mark Heenehan was our Juan Peron in Salford and he delivered the role very well and the role and the vocal seemed to suit his personality perfectly. In Leeds, it was the famous Earl Carpenter who took on the role and I think he was equally good, again, if not a tiny bit better. I like how he added a little laugh and facial expressions and pauses here and there to make it more like he was "acting" the role rather than "singing" the role. (Note: Evita is a sung-through musical so there were no spoken dialogues throughout except for the speech at the beginning of act two and some of the narrator's narration).

Mark Heenehan as Juan Peron
(seen here with Abigail Jaye)

Earl Carpenter as Juan Peron

Both performances had Mark Powell as Che and I think his performance was a better in Leeds. He gave the role an interesting aspect and his acting and skepticism of Evita came across really well. I think he sang better in Leeds too. However, I think his vocal still needs working during the piece where it needs a stronger sound such as during "Sing You Fools" in "Oh What a Circus" or in "A New Argentina". If he could do that, he would definitely command the stage and audience for sure. He seemed to be a bit chubbbier when I saw him in Leeds, but I digress.

Mark Powell as Che, the narrator

Magaldi and the Mistress in Leeds (Reuben Kaye and Sasha Ransley) were hands down stronger than the ones I saw in Salford. They may even be the best ones I've seen in the role so far. Their renditions of their signature numbers "On This Night of a Thousand Stars" and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" were impeccable. The ensemble were equally good, however I felt that the ensemble in the Salford company was slightly stronger and more in unison in their numbers.

The Ensemble during "Buenos Aires"

The Ensemble during "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"
(seen here with Eva and Peron on the "Casa Rosada")

Overall, I enjoyed the performance I saw in Leeds slightly better as can be seen from the half star increase in my rating. It may be due to the fact that I was sittting in the centre of the theatre so I got the perfect view of the show, compared to in Salford where I got the seat slightly to the right and back. Also, Leeds Grand Theatre is a more intimate space than The Lowry (at least in the stall) so it's easier to feel like being a part of the show.  Still, it wasn't a flawless production, I still found that many of the scenes could have been stronger. This is probably due to direction decisions. Though "Buenos Aires" and "Rainbow High" were done beautifully, I never understood the "Art of the Possible" scene and "A New Argentina" scene could have told the story more powerfully whereas now it was a bit of a confusion for the audience as things wrapped up in act one. However, I would still recommend this show to anyone who loves musicals because it is still a well-produced production and it was definitely worth it to see it with such a strong cast like this.

MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT ONE
Requiem for Evita... Company
Oh What a Circus... Che, Eva and Company
On This Night of a Thousand Stars... Magaldi
Eva Beware of the City... Magaldi, Eva and Family
Buenos Aires... Eva and Company
Good Night and Thank You... Che, Eva, Magaldi and Lovers
The Art of the Possible... Peron, Eva and Colonels
Charity Concert... Magaldi and Peron
I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You... Eva and Peron
Another Suitcase in Another Hall... Mistress
Peron's Latest Flame... Che and Company
A New Argentina... Che, Eva, Peron and Company


ACT TWO
On the Balcony of the Casa Rosada... Che, Peron and Company
Don't Cry for Me Argentina... Eva
High Flying Adored... Che and Eva
Rainbow High... Eva and Dressers
Rainbow Tour... Che, Peron, Eva and Ensemble
The Actress Hasn't Learned the Lines (You'd Like to Hear)... Eva and Company
And the Money Keeps Rolling In (and Out)... Che and Company
Santa Evita... Child, Mother and Priests
Waltz for Eva and Che... Che and Eva
She Is a Diamond... Peron and Officers
Dice Are Rolling... Peron and Eva
You Must Love Me... Eva
Eva's Final Broadcast... Eva
Montage... Company
Lament... Eva

Review: Shrek: The Musical

Musical: Shrek: The Musical
Venue: Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, UK
Date: 10th July 2011
Cast: Nigel Lindsay (Shrek), Richard Blackwood (Donkey), Nigel Harman (Lord Farquaad), Amanda Holden (Princess Fiona), Jonathan Stewart (Pinocchio) and Landi Oshinowo (Dragon)
Rating: **1/2


Review:
Another new West End show that I was so looking forward to and yet again, another disappointment. My girlfriend and I were on our little day trip to London and we decided to go for Shrek: The Musical since it was so highly anticipated and many of our friends were wanting to see it so we thought why not checked it out. We went to Theatre Royal Drury Lane and bought ourselves day tickets for 30 pounds each. The seats that we got were the third row all the way to the far right side. However, the view was not as bad as we thought we would get. We had the perfect view of pretty much everything on the stage. And after the show ended, we were glad that we didn't pay full price for it.


I think the main problems of Shrek lie in its songs and performers. The storyline was cheesy and predictable and being based on a popular Oscar-winning film, everyone in the audience seemed to know the story pretty well. But as I listened to the script, I found that it was quite funny, though it could have been a lot stronger, but the executions by the actors were the key problems. None of the four leading actors could live up to the talent of their Broadway counterparts. If you look at it, you have Brian D'arcy James, Sutton Foster and Christopher Sieber. If you were the London producers, you would have at least thought to hire someone with real singing ability! Nigel Lindsay as Shrek was passionless. It seemed like he was so bored playing the role and his singing was not good enough for the role.

The cast of Shrek (clockwise from left)
Amanda Holden, Nigel Lindsay, Richard Blackwood and Nigel Harman

The cast out of their costumes and makeups

Amanda Holden and Nigel Lindsay
as Princess Fiona and Shrek during "I Think I Got You Beat"

Amanda Holden of Britain's Got Talent as Princess Fiona had the harder job of filling in the shoes of Tony winner Sutton Foster. Vocally, she was a disaster. I needed to get on my iPod to listen to Sutton's version to clean my ears literally. On the bright side, I think her acting did kinda make up for it and her dance solo during "Morning Person" was quite good.

Amanda Holden as Princess Fiona in "Morning Person"

Richard Blackwood played Donkey, a role originated by Eddie Murphy, and he, too, was a really boring character. Donkey was supposed to be a character that you would laugh out loud with his lines but Richard couldn't deliver anything that would make the audience laughed. I was quite surprised to see his bio that he is a stand up comedian! However, I think his performance was better when he had to act without actually speaking.

Richard Blackwood as Donkey during "Travel Song"

Amanda Holden and Richard Blackwood

The fairy tale creatures led by Pinocchio (Jonathan Stewart) were pretty annoying and, at times, pointless. They got quite a few long songs that didn't seem to move the story forward and the high-pitched voice of many characters (Pinocchio, Gingy, etc.) were getting on my nerves.

Pinocchio, Guards and the Fairy Tale Creatures during "Story of My Life"

 The saving grace of the show was definitely Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad. I heard a lot about him and every review seems to speak highly of him and he deserves all those compliments. He played the role so well that you couldn't stop laughing and guess what? He could sing too! Both his "What's up, Duloc?" and "The Ballad of Farquaad" were the showstoppers. I figured out that the reason why I was so bored during the first act was that the story in the first act was mainly carried by Shrek and Donkey, two of the weakest performances in the show. While the second act, Lord Farquaad had quite a lot of stage time and that was why the show became a lot better.

The hilarious Nigel Harmas as Lord Farquaad

The Ballad of Farquaad

I also needed to mention Landi Oshinowo, though I felt sad for her to have to wear the hideous Humpty Dumpty costume as an ensemble member. She had a great singing voice that commanded the stage during the Dragon scene (note: she was off-stage singing the role to the dragon puppet) but she came out in a dragon-inspired gown during the finale and she was beautiful and sounded really amazing! I also would like to mention Samantha Allison and Amy Beadel as Young Fiona and Teen Fiona who were great in their rendition of "I Know It's Today" and also to the adorable Emilia Jones as Young Shrek.

Landi Oshinowo during the telecast of Britian's Got Talent

Another horrible aspect of the show that I mentioned was the music. I have listened to the Broadway Cast Recording so I was quite familiar with most of the songs. I admit that some songs were quite nice and I really liked them (Who I'd Be, What's up, Duloc?, Morning Person) though the performance here was way below the standard of the Broadway cast. Some actually were nicer hearing them live (e.g. Make a Move, The Ballad of Farquaad). Some were nice songs that got butchered by horrible performance (I Know It's Today, I'm a Believer). And some were just plain horrible and boring (Story of My Life, Freak Flag, Travel Song). Many of the changes made from the Broadway version were, in my opinion, a bad call. I didn't like how they changed the opening scene at all. It really slowed the story down, ruined Shrek and Fiona's openings and it didn't pump you up for the show that you were about to see. The new song for the Dragon, "Forever", was as bad as the old one (I think it was called "Donkey Pot Pie".) "I Think I Got You Beat" was horribly performed but actually got quite funny when it got to the farting and burping.

During "Travel Song", bad song but quite clever stage effects

"Make a Move" by Donkey, a surprisingly entertaining song

Still, there are good parts of the show that I enjoyed. The production design were very impressive. I really like all the scenic designs and the stage effects in the show. The Dragon puppets were definitely the highlights of the show. I think the costume design for the characters were quite nice especially for the fairy tale creatures though I hope that Princess Fiona's ogre makeup could have been done more nicely. I know it's a quick makeup but c'mon you can do better than that.

Donkey and Dragon

The dancing in the show were also very impressive. The mice tap dancing number during "Morning Person" were top notch. The Duloc dancers were pretty hilarious. I also enjoyed the references to other musicals in the storyline, e.g. Wicked, Lion King and Les Miserables.

"What's up, Duloc?"

"Freak Flag" with the Les Mis reference

So overall, I didn't quite enjoy Shrek as I thought I would have. I wouldn't really recommend this show if you could only choose one or two. If you have a spare time and wanna check out what it's like, please suit yourself but trust me, it's not worth the full price, so you could either come to the theatre to get the day tickets or wait for it to go on sale at TKTS which I'm sure it won't be long and lower your expectation A LOT Still, my girlfriend and I left the theatre with a colorful souvenir programme and a Shrek headban.. Ah, the power of marketing! :)

The questioning of Gingy

The wedding of Fiona and Lord Farquaad

The Finale: I'm a Believer

MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT ONE
Big Bright Beautiful World... Shrek, Fiona, Mama Ogre, Papa Ogre, King Harold, Queen Lillian and Ensemble
Story of My Life... Pinocchio, Fairy Tale Creatures and Guards
The Goodbye Song... Shrek and Fairy Tale Creatures
Welcome to Duloc/What's Up, Duloc?... Lord Farquaad and Ensemble
I Know It's Today... Fiona and Young Fionas
Travel Song... Donkey and Shrek
Forever... Dragon, Donkey and Knights
This Is How a Dream Comes True... Fiona, Shrek, Donkey and Dragon
Who I'd Be... Shrek, Fiona and Donkey


ACT TWO
Morning Person... Fiona, Pied Piper and Ensemble
I Think I Got You Beat... Shrek and Fiona
The Ballad of Farquaad... Lord Farquaad and Ensemble
Make a Move... Donkey, Three Blind Mice
When Words Fail... Shrek
Morning Person (Reprise)... Fiona
Freak Flag... Pinocchio and Fairy Tale Creatures
Big Bright Beautiful World (Reprise)... Shrek
This Is Our Story... Fiona, Shrek and Ensemble
I'm a Believer... Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Dragon and Ensemble