Trevor Patt in Shrek the Musical.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
- Title: Shrek the Musical
- Book and Lyrics by: David Lindsay-Abaire
- Music by: Jeanine Tesori
- Director: Herbie Barnes
- Actors: Ellen Denny, Trevor Patt, Michael Therriault, Joema Firth
- Production and Venue: Young People’s Theatre
- City: Toronto
- Year: Runs to December 30, 2025
As romance goes, the rival-to-lover trope is a classic. Shakespeare loved it, Jane Austen refined it, L.M. Montgomery gave it a uniquely Canadian twist. But I’ve never seen it culminate in quite the same gloriously tasteless and shamelessly gassy way it does in Shrek the Musical, now playing at Toronto’s Young People’s Theatre.
Love may come by witty insults and verbal sparring. Or it may come via a lengthy farting and burping contest between a green-skinned ogre and the princess he adores. It’s an unusual courting ritual that should give you a sense of the world this show inhabits.
There’s nothing subtle or sophisticated about the 85-minute adaptation of the 2001 DreamWorks animated film, with music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. It’s a parade of costumes, swirling colours, belted songs, over-the-top jokes and singing dragons.
Alana Randall, Tyler Pearse and Dominique Leblanc in Shrek the Musical.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
On Broadway, where it premiered in 2008, the musical’s bubblegum morals and pantomime-style humour landed ambivalently with enlightened viewers. But in an audience packed with kids (and grown-ups with childlike hearts), I found it impossible not to enjoy the silly spectacle and high-energy magic. My five-year-old, who’d already seen a preview with his drama class, laughed so hard that he turned heads.
For those unfamiliar with the cartoon, Shrek follows the travails of an abandoned ogre who raises himself in a swamp that’s soon invaded by a host of fairy-tale characters. Turns out the bog is coveted property, and a land dispute emerges with the power-hungry but cowardly Lord Farquaad, who tells Shrek he’ll hand over the deed in exchange for a favour.
Michael Therriault in Shrek the Musical.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
Shrek must rescue Princess Fiona from a dragon-guarded tower so that Lord Farquaad can marry her and become king. Shrek follows through and while, at first, he doesn’t like the smart-mouthed princess any more than she likes her beastly rescuer, the two end up hitting it off.
The production opens with several lively ensemble pieces that show off Joyce Padua’s playful costumes and William Layton’s swirling psychedelic set, which climbs up opposite walls of the theatre’s auditorium in continuous murals. Monica Dottor’s choreography is entertaining and eclectic, infusing classic musical-theatre moves with bits of tap and hip hop.
Trevor Patt is immediately charming as the (inexplicably) Scottish ogre and there’s strong supportive work from the rest of the cast, particularly Joema Frith as Shrek’s sidekick, Donkey, who channels the ghost of Otis Redding in his powerful musical numbers.
Trevor Patt and Joema Frith in Shrek the Musical.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
The production, directed by YPT’s artistic director Herbie Barnes, is at its best when Ellen Denny takes the stage as Princess Fiona. Denny mixes the sweet soprano of a cartoon heroine with grittiness that’s as rude as it is delightful. We meet her as a trapped damsel, singing a satirical three-way number with her child and teenage selves (Megan Dallan and Dominique LeBlanc) about the drudgery of waiting 8,423 days for her prince.
Denny is even more captivating in the solo Morning Person, where she simultaneously embodies and lampoons the best fairy tale-princess clichés. Her ability to charmingly out-do everyone, whether it’s singing ear-splittingly higher than the morning lark or one-upping Shrek on his unhappy childhood, makes her endlessly satisfying to root for.
Speaking of unhappy childhoods, special mention must go to I Think I Got You Beat, the misery-olympics-cum-musical-number that ignites the first sparks between Fiona and Shrek. The ogre and princess are comparing battle wounds, each determined to prove they had it worse growing up, when the music changes tone and tempo, competitiveness dissolves into empathy, and they suddenly see each other differently.
Dominique Leblanc, Ellen Denny and Megan Dallan in Shrek the Musical.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
It’s a sleight of hand that can only work in a heightened, musical world, but I thought there was a timely message here worth underlining, and certainly more thoughtful than the show’s other tropes.
One quibble with the production was the choice to have Lord Farquaad (Michael Therriault), who is the butt of endless short jokes, play the role standing on his knees. There’s surely a cleverer way to reframe the jokes so that they land as metaphors, rather than poke fun at short people, which, at the risk of sounding sanctimonious, could be construed as offensive.
But that aside, Shrek is an evening (or afternoon) of fun family entertainment with broad appeal across age groups. My five-year-old is keen to go a third time, while even the surliest, too-cool tween is sure to laugh.