Let Your Freak Flag Fly aka I Saw Shrek The Musical
Yesterday one of my long, long, long term homies gave me a call and said he had an extra ticket to see a musical and asked if I wanted to go. Before I rolled my eyes to the back of my head and politely said no he informed me it was for Shrek The Musical. Due mostly to the fact he is a tried and true friend who I NEVER spend time with anymore and as an artist it is critical that I expose myself to all kinds of culture and experiences as often as possible I said yes. Plus we used to go on auditions together back when I thought I wanted to be an actor, so this was like a mini-trip down nerdy actor memory lane.
Don't get me wrong, I like movie musicals alright Moulin Rouge, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz and Grease are among my favorite movies of all time along with Star Wars and other geek classics. For whatever reason I am not a big fan of Broadway. I saw Taboo (whew...what waz dat smell?...lol), Rent (I think I missed what everyone else loved so much), Hot Feet (no comment) and Mary Poppins (which I liked...almost as much as the movie). As I look back I think the shows I've seen may have something to do with my lack of love for Broadway. In any event, last night I saw Shrek.
The staging was great, the sets were beautiful and the lighting was of course professional. The story is closely based on the storyline of the now classic original film and features a great cast. Musicals go through a very long development process ( I know cause I worked on Harlem Song at the Apollo Theatre a few years ago), so I found it odd how timely certain themes in Shrek The Musical seemed to be. Finding love, finding friendship and going on a journey to find ones self are all classic themes that anchor the shows musical score and book.
However, there is another theme in the show that was very blatant, quite timely and ultimately true. It was the theme of standing up for your rights and being proud of who and what you are. Talk about an anthem for gay rights! There is such a song in the show and it's called Freak Flag. It was quite interesting to watch parents with their children as a noticeably fey Pinocchio, an under cover transvestite Big Bad Wolf and supporting cast of...well outcasts proudly sung the refrain of let your freak flag fly! It was...well...FREAKY...liberating and fun! Much to their credit, the families seated near us enjoyed every note of the show including the obvious references to living your own life and letting others live theirs with respect and dignity.
The cast was great. Brian d'Arcy James is great as Shrek, Sutton Foster rocks as Princess Fiona, Christopher Sieber steals the show as Lord Farquaad, and Daniel Breaker is charming and hysterical as Donkey.
Daniel Breaker who plays Donkey
The only weakness in the show for me were the songs. They were decent, but not incredible and I cannot remember one melody or lyric right now and after all isn't the songs what a musical is supposed to be about? Strange thing is though I didn't quite love the songs, I still highly recommend letting your freak flag fly and checking out Shrek The Musical for yourself.
Musical Numbers
Act I
Big Bright Beautiful World
Story of My Life
The Goodbye Song
Don't Let Me Go
I Know It's Today
What's Up, Duloc?
Travel Song
Donkey Pot Pie
This Is How a Dream Comes True
Who I'd Be
Act II
Morning Person
I Think I Got You Beat
The Ballad of Farquaad
Make a Move
When Words Fail
Morning Person (Reprise)
Build Me a Wall
Freak Flag
Big Bright Beautiful World (Reprise)