I Saw ‘Shrek: The Musical’ & I Now Believe In True Love

There’s absolutely no denying that Shrek is the greatest film of all time, and a new musical that’s just opened in Melbourne has brought the original movie to life.

It’s a story as old as time, well, err as old as 2001. Ogre lives alone in a swamp. Ogre is forced to go on a quest to save a princess, so he can be rid his swamp of the fairytale creatures left there by an evil lord. Ogre falls for princess. As fate would have it, it turns out that because of a curse the princess is actually an ogre too.

Shrek: The Musical made its debut on Broadway back in 2008 and has finally made its way to Australia for a run of shows in Sydney, Melbourne ,and Brisbane. I had the privilege of attending the Melbourne premiere and it absolutely changed my life for the better.

The musical is nuts. Like, it’s hard to imagine how these computer-animated characters could take human form but I must say I was impressed. Shrek himself (played by Ben Mingay) is actually adorable, while Donkey (Nat Jobe) is some kind of animal/human hybrid that’s somehow simultaneously cute and terrifying.

With a lush, colourful set and whimsical costumes, the musical relays the basic story in the first film, bringing back most of the movie’s favourite lines with the addition of a handful of new songs which are mostly catchy as hell. Imho, ‘Freak Flag’ is a genuine bop.

The cast is amazing and if you ever dreamt of seeing Marcia Hines as a sexy dragon then this is your chance. Oh and Todd McKenney shuffling around on his knees as Lord Farquaad is deeply amusing on every level and he steals the whole damn show — John Lithgow is shaking.

The musical just works because it’s the perfect love story. If two ogres can find one another in this cruel world surely I, a single gal, can find a guy on Tinder that doesn’t look like a serial killer?

My faith in true love is restored.

If you’ve seen the movie and don’t want to see again* then be warned, the musical doesn’t really cover any new ground. But if you love Shrek and its sequels then the musical gives the story an even deeper layer and it’s just a genuine good time.

*My mistake, this is actually impossible.

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Shrek: The Musical plays at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne until 26 April, 2020. For tickets visit Ticketek.