I was doubtful. I mean, I truly believe that there's room for everything when it comes to theatre, but sometimes things can get lost in screen-to-stage musical adaptations -- particularly when you're dealing with animated movies. Character development and plot can give way to overdone gags and spectacle, which may be fine for the kids, but may leave the adults wanting a little more substance over theme park. Then I remembered that hey, I kinda liked the movie when I saw it years ago. Not only that, but I have no problem admitting that I love stagecraft. Bring it -- smoke machines, gigantic set pieces, witches on cherry pickers -- I'll sit there with my mouth hangin' half open for minutes on end.
Luckily, in The Fabulous Fox Theatre's season opener, there was not only a fair bit of stagecraft, but a relatively decent plot behind DreamWorks' first musical venture, SHREK THE MUSICAL (music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire). The tale is one that is quite familiar -- "You can't always read a book by its cover", "It's what's inside that counts", "What makes you different makes you special"… you know. But this show was able to deliver these lessons with sincerity, as opposed to assaulting you with a ton of eye-candy to distract you from the fact that there's really nothing else going on at the core.
