On November 24, 2024, my family and I went to see the Broadway performance, Shrek the Musical, at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The hilarious musical is based on the first Shrek movie made in 2001 and starts off in the fictional fairy-tale medieval town of Duloc. 

Summary of the Musical:

Lord Farquaad bans fairy tale characters from Duloc and sends them to Shrek the ogre’s swamp.  Shrek is enraged by this, and with the help of a talking donkey, embarks on a trip to speak with Lord Farquaad. Farquaad needs to marry a princess in order to become the king of Duloc, and he makes a deal with Shrek. Shrek needs to save a princess named Fiona, who is in a castle guarded by a dragon, and bring her to Lord Farquaad for marriage in order for Shrek to have his swamp back. Shrek accepts and both him and Donkey travel together, where they slowly grow fond of each other.

They finally reach the castle and cross a bridge above lava. Shrek goes to find the princess, leaving the Donkey alone. Donkey is captured by the dragon, who falls in love with him. During this, Shrek finds Fiona and he fights off the dragon, saving her and Donkey. 

Before reaching Duloc, they take shelter and the audience finds out that Princess Fiona has a curse that turns her into an ogre by night and she can only take her true beautiful form with a true love’s kiss. The next day, Shrek and Fiona become romantically interested in one another and by night she again demands shelter. Donkey discovers she is an ogre and describes herself as ugly. Shrek tries to confess his feelings to her, but overhears her talking about him.

He calls Farquaad to marry her, but misunderstands the situation that Fiona was indeed talking about herself and not Shrek. Shrek stops the wedding, kisses Fiona, and she takes her true form as an ogre. The musical ends with them married with children, and Farquaad eaten by the dragon, who marries the donkey.

Favorite Song:

The composition I liked best was “I Know it’s Today” by Leah Greenhaus, Marissa O’Donnell, and Sutton Foster. The style of the song is pop and I feel it is this because of the use of female singers, who sing with strong voices in unison, the piano, drums, flutes, who give the song the pop aspect. I liked this composition the best because of the passing of solos between the singers, the blend of the background vocals, and the catchy music. The music made me feel happy and calm and the music evoked the images of the Shrek movie. The song reminded me of when I was little on the couch watching it with my family. It gave me nostalgic emotions but also joyful emotions.

Overall, I 100% would recommend the musical to others and I had an amazing experience!

– Sophia B.