Fairy tale characters visit IU Auditorium for 'Shrek the Musical'

"Shrek the Musical” doesn’t start like any of the three movies it’s based on. The show begins with a little, green ogre whose parents kick him out of his home at the age of 7.

From there, the adventures and scenes throughout the play are the familiar ones borrowed from the Dreamworks “Shrek” franchise that has gained much acclaim and many fans.

“I liked the movie,” alumna Maggie Lee said. “I love Mike Myers. I think he’s hilarious, but I also like the gingerbread man. I wonder how they’ll do that,” she said before the curtain went up Tuesday  at the IU Auditorium.

 She proceeded to do a reenactment of the scene in the film when Lord Farquaad mocks the gingerbread man by reciting the classic children’s poem about the cookie with personality.

The cast of misfit fairytale characters evoked bursts of laughter from children in the audience with their comical acting during the first song and dance number.

This group included familiar characters like Pinocchio, complete with a working growing nose and the three little pigs with German accents.

Their exaggerated personalities matched the way they’ve been portrayed throughout the “Shrek” movie saga.

The movies’ influence on the musical continued when the audience was introduced to the character Donkey, whose voice was reminiscent of Eddie Murphy’s.

Three IU Alumni returned to campus to perform in the theatrical production. Two took their place in the orchestra pit, while one who was a ballet major played the part of Fiona’s mother.

Mother and daughter Georgia and Lauren Woods traveled from Mitchell, Ind., for the opening night.

Eleven-year-old daughter Lauren said her favorite part was “when the fairytale creatures get dumped into the swamp and they have an argument over where they’re supposed to go.”

Lauren’s mother Georgia said deciding to come to the performance was easy, given her daughter’s interest in the genre.

“She’s always enjoyed musicals,” she said. “She’s seen so many over the years. When we found out ‘Shrek’ was going to be here at the Auditorium, we
bought tickets.”

Alumna Laura Dusard, her four kids and her mother-in-law all got tickets for Tuesday’s show to celebrate Dusard’s birthday.

“All the kids have seen the movie. They’re absolutely loving it,” she said as she chased her 2-year-old around the lobby of the auditorium. “It kept him entertained for the most part.”

Dusard said she was mainly impressed with the female dragon that guarded Princess Fiona’s tower.

In the movies, the anthropomorphic dragon is not given a voice.
The musical version of Shrek’s story offered its own take on this character by giving the female dragon its own song and dance number.

“It was a unique take on the dragon,” Dusard said. “(The dragon) feeling like no one wanted it was a good twist on the original. It was good to shift the focus from the rescuing of Fiona to another character.”