THEATER REVIEW
AnnuAl HolidAy open House
7
COME BE DAZZLED
Fri. Nov 11th & Sat. Nov 12th 10 a.m. till 6 p.m.
10-50% oFF Sale
door prizeS, Free giFt wrappiNg, Spiced tea & homemade cookieS, holidaY trapp caNdleS
Oliver’s Antiques
Best little antique store in central Arkansas! 501.982.0064 1101 Burman Dr. • Jacksonville Take Main St. Exit, East on Main, Right on S. Hospital & First Left to Burman
Christmas Open House November 11 & 12
Florist & Gift Shoppe 918 W. Main St Jacksonville 501-982-3125 M-F 8-5 • Sat 9-4
MonDay-SaTuRDay 10-5
We’re Telling Tales! Lunch: Tuesday-Saturday 11am-3pm Dinner: Friday-Saturday 5pm-9pm Dinner And A Show: Tuesday’s 5pm-8pm
‘Shrek’ Mae by V.L. Cox
411 Main St. • In The Heart Of The Argenta Arts District Downtown North Little Rock www.TalesFromTheSouth.com • 501.372.7976
Paws in the Vineyard Benefiting CARE for Animals
wine tasting w hors d’oeuvres w drawings Thursday, November 3 w 5:30 - 8:00pm $40 per guest
Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock, 1818 Reservoir Road
501.603.2273 to purchase tickets Wine Master: Bruce Cochran
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
Boulevard Bread Company Bruce Cochran Catering to You Clark Trim & Henrik Thostrup Owners of Colonial Wine & Spirits Tom Crow Owner of Sherwood Beverage
Framed print by Amy Reges to be raffled. CARE for Animals 5516 Kavanaugh Blvd. Little Rock, AR 72207 501.603.2273 www.careforanimals.org 26 NOVEMBER 2, 2011 ARKANSAS TIMES
Oct. 28, Robinson Center Music Hall BY WERNER TRIESCHMANN
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ew York critics weren’t wild about the 2008 stage incarnation of “Shrek the Musical.” But, outside of “The Lion King,” theater critics have pretty much walled off their hearts to popular film cartoons being made into high-priced, Great White Way entertainment. Then again, it’s a tricky business to turn the intricately animated into singing and dancing flesh-and-blood. Now “Shrek the Musical” arrives at Robinson Center Music Hall thanks to a non-equity tour diverted to Little Rock by Celebrity Attractions. Directed on Broadway by Arkansas native Jason Moore, “Shrek” has undergone changes and songs have been added and cut (book and lyrics are by David LindsayAbaire and music is by Jeanine Tesori), but it’s still a musical that very much resembles the 2001 Dreamworks movie. On stage, “Shrek” is funny and involving — like the movie, it’s aimed at tickling adults and children. The cracked fairy tale story of an ogre and a princess with a secret doesn’t take itself too seriously or smother the audience in winks. There are sections that simply don’t translate on stage but they pass pretty quickly. That’s good because “Shrek” lasts two and half hours, which is something to know if you are taking kids. As a story, “Shrek” is a busy and pop-
ulated tale beginning with fairy tale creatures that are relocated to Shrek’s swamp by the vertically-challenged Lord Farquaad (played with great relish and on his knees in a special short legs costume by Merritt David James). The group is lead by a particularly pessimistic Pinocchio (Chase Todd) and there’s even Gingy (voiced by Schuyler Midgett), the sassy gingerbread cookie. Of course Donkey, the part that was voiced by Eddie Murphy in the movie and who Andre Jordan sounds a lot like here, is along for the journey to be both pain and friend to Shrek. Overall, the performances in this “Shrek” are energetic and comic without crossing over into the camp territory. As Shrek, Lukas Poost’s accent gets the better of him at times but he plays off well with Liz Shivener’s sharp, “bi-polar” Princess Fiona. Tesori’s music has a modern edge to it and is more serviceable than memorable. The songs are spiced by Lindsay-Abaire’s witty lyrics. The parts that don’t work in this “Shrek” are the parts that really could only be pulled off on film — the dragon is an impressive large puppet but does it really need to have a song? And the spectacle of Princess Fiona’s final transformation is pretty but doesn’t make sense. Still, “Shrek” is light and bright entertainment. The show isn’t trying to be the Great American Musical, thank goodness, and just because Hollywood got to it first doesn’t make it bad. The story holds up and the ogre and his cartoon pals are good-hearted and warped just enough to be worth the time.