Shrek the Musical on tour

So this evening (Friday 19th June) I have been out to Norwich Theatre Royal to see Shrek the Musical (shortened to Shrek for my sanity and potential finger arthritis) on tour. This is not the first time I have seen Shrek; I first saw it last year at The Leeds Grand Theatre with my best friend Kayleigh - way before this blog began. The first time was a fabulous evening, although we were late to the show and missed the beginning. An evening performance of Shrek starts at 7:00pm sharp not the typical 7:30pm, so if you are going to see this show on tour - be aware and don't be late. I hate late people and if I owned a theatre late people would be turned away.  Shrek has been the only time I have been late for a show, and I intend it to be the only. I bought these tickets for the Shrek performance as a present for my sister's 20th birthday . However, as my sister likes to be dramatic, she decided to give birth to my gorgeous little nephew a month early so he arrived this week as opposed to mid-July; however I wish her and him all the best and they are both doing really well. I show you me and my baby nephew and my nearly three year old niece.

So welcome to the world Arnie! So last minute I asked my mother's best friend Wendy (and one of my bestest too) to come along to Shrek and mother said she would pay for it as an early birthday present for Wendy. Well anyone would have mistaken us for two 14year old girls at school. All we did was laugh constantly and take the piss out of other people; Wendy brings the worse side of me out. We had started off the evening with a meal and glass of Merlot (250 ml of course). Have to say thank you to Uncle Neil for the meal; shame the Ivy was closed. As always I digress but we had a fab night, lots of laughing and talking about old times (an old wrestling friend had me and Wendy nearly wetting ourselves - but we will leave that as our little secret). All that matters is this is not the one and only time I plan to go to the theatre with Wendy.

I will talk about Shrek now as that's what the blog is about. What a fantastic show, really loved it. Although it is aimed at children I think adults will absolutely love this show and there was definitely a lot of adults without kids there tonight. The music and lyrics are fabulous and all original songs which I love (apart from I'm a believer of course - which is a fab curtain call to end on) so thanks David Lindsay-Abaire (book and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music). My favourite songs have to be 'I know it's today', 'morning person', and 'this is our story'. The best song for me is 'who I'd be' and I personally find this song emotional - even if it is about an Ogre. The acting and singing were fab, although one character steals the show for me and that is Lord Farquaad (portrayed by Gerard Carey); he plays a fabulous camp short guy and the character works really well within the whole show. Dean Chisnall (Shrek and was in the West End production of the show), Faye Brookes (Princess Fiona) and Idriss Kargbo (Donkey) were also great. The perfect singing voice comes from the dragon (Candace Furbert) who has a gorgeous and powerful soulful voice and I think will be someone we will see more regularly in musical theatre. One thing I really enjoyed about the musical was the references to other very well known musicals; this was something any regular theatre goer would appreciate. The references to Gypsy, Les Miserables, Lion King and Wicked were obvious to me. I am sure there were others I missed so would love you to let me know about them.

I would highly recommend people going to see this show, especially while it is on tour in the UK (Shrek on Tour); currently running until February 2016. If you and your children are big Shrek fans check out the new London Shrek Attraction ( Shrek Adventure). It is great to take your kids to see or other young persons in your family. Equally it is perfect for a date night or just for good friends to go along and see. There is frequent subliminal adult humour and Julian Clarey would love the double entendres. One thing that can be a 'pain' for some people is children in the theatre. I had kids near me moving and fidgeting, falling asleep and talking throughout (poor Wendy had the gold medallist for laughing behind her). This is something that is expected when seeing a musical for kids unfortunately. If you are unable to go see this on tour or do not like the idea of a theatre full of children there is a filmed version of the Broadway production available on DVD which is fabulous (I have seen it twice). The leads Brian d'Arcy James and Sutton Foster are amazing and there are some differences between the West End/UK tour and Broadway versions (personally West End wins outright on the Dragon scene). So definitely go and see it; you will never look at an Ogre the same way again.