Shrek the Musical at the Theatre Royal Dury Lane, London   Shrek the Musical The Theatre Royal Dury Lane www.shrekthemusical.co.uk Reviewed April 2012

We had a fabulous time at Shrek the Musical in the beautiful Theatre Royal Dury Lane London. We went to an evening performance that lasted way past normal bedtime for my two children age 7 and 9 - but they were so excited and thrilled at being at the theatre there was not a yawn all evening. Shrek the Musical is a fiesta of music, dance, colour and like the fabulous animated Dreamworks version has humour to entertain the children as well as amuse the grown ups - very clever. We were all highly entertained and loved the show. The story follows the lovable but unlikely hero Shrek (Dean Chisnall), as he is expelled from his swamp by a bunch of misfit fairy tale characters – including the hand puppet Gingerbread Man, the dancing three blind mice and a cross dressing big bad wolf. Shrek joins forces with Donkey (Richard Blackwood who is brilliant) to find the somewhat quirky Princess Fiona in her dragon-guarded tower who is fabulously played, sung and danced by Girls Aloud's Kimberley Walsh. Lord Farquhar, the diminutive lord who sends Shrek to rescue Fiona for himself is hilarious and actor Neil McDermott creates a funny power-crazed character that jumps all over the stage even though he is on his knees the whole show! There are some wonderful songs, including ‘Then I saw her Face’, endless dancing and brilliant costumes. The children loved the amazing dragon that literally fills the whole theatre as it swoops and plunges and the clever set design moves the audience through swamp glades to dragon’s den to the castle seamlessly and amusingly. We particularly liked the rope bridge. The performance is two hours and thirty minutes long with one interval but we loved it so much there was no shuffling. The theatre has booster seats for smaller children so everyone has a good view. We loved Shrek the Musical as much as we loved the movie.