As with any screen-to-stage adaptation, Shrek the Musical differs significantly from its source material. But it should be evaluated not merely based on what it’s done differently but for what its changes amount to in this new work of art. What particularly fascinates me are the changes that differentiate Shrek the Musical’s 2024 non-Equity tour from its original Broadway production: this version comes across as, and was intended to resemble, children’s theater. According to Playbill, Shrek the Musical’s current national tour is a rewrite of the 2008 Broadway production by its original creators, composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist and book writer David Lindsay-Abaire, 16 years after the show originally premiered on Broadway and starred Brian d’Arcy James and Sutton Foster as Shrek and Fiona. After its Broadway production, the musical has had two national Equity tours and three national non-Equity tours, including this one. Nicholas Hambruch as Shrek, Kelly Prendergast as Princess Fiona, and Ensemble in ‘Shrek the Musical.’ Photo by Jason Anderson/Pendleton Photography. The rewrite in this tour seems created not to please a corporate overlord but to satisfy a smaller creative team, and this is supported. Upon the opening of the current tour, Lindsay-Abaire described to Playbill earlier this year the difficulty of working on a production alongside DreamWorks’ inaugural Broadway venture, saying that although creating the show was a “joyful” experience, “it was also really hard and awful.” He said that he and Tesori were “always… crying into each other’s shoulders because it was so hard.” Now, in speaking about their reasons for the rewrite, Tesori says that she and Lindsay-Abaire “felt like there was a leaner version of it… there was a version that was more us, honestly.” This production seems like children’s theater because some of the new rewrite was inspired by the direction of children’s versions of Shrek the Musical Jr. In a discussion featured on the current tour’s website about the “All-New Shrek,” as the video’s  title describes it, Tesori says that she’s seen many Shrek the Musical Jr. productions, and “in one… they had the group of kids singing a lot of the material, and I went back to David, and I said, ‘I saw a version of Shrek today and if we ever rethink it, we should use our ensemble of people so they can populate this world so that when Shrek is alone, he’s really alone, but when there are a lot of people around… you know… that the stage is full and charming and vibrant and colorful.’” Director Danny Mefford, who choreographed Dear Evan Hansen at its original outing at DC’s Arena Stage, for its Off-Broadway run, and on Broadway, confirmed this inspiration from children’s theater in the same video. “Our production is trying to spark the imagination of children, and it is also trying to bring that childish imagination back to all the adults and parents and grandparents that are bringing their children to the show or coming just because they love Shrek,” he said. “It’s attempting to be a celebration of that childlike imagination inside all of us.” I’m not an expert on the children’s theater genre, but a cornucopia of tropes I’ve seen in both original pieces designed for children and for adaptations for “Jr.” audiences are present in this production. These include a brighter, more saturated color palette, puppetry, simpler choreography, simpler costumes that can be taken off and on without facepaint or prosthetic changes, simpler tunes with uncomplicated lyrics, simpler themes, simpler jokes designed for a younger audience, and cussing removal. Those who might have disliked Shrek for its subversiveness and satirization of Disney will find these traits are far less present in the 2024 U.S. national tour of Shrek the Musical. The children’s theater genre, then, seems like where Shrek the Musical may always have meant to land. Or is it? Naphtali Yaakov Curry as Donkey and Nicholas Hambruch as Shrek in ‘Shrek the Musical.’ Photo by CyorkPhoto. Shrek (2001) was initially made as an open rebuke of Disney, the corporate king of children’s entertainment. As Conrad Vernon, storyboard artist on the original film and voice of Gingy, told Polygon in 2021, “we were trying to be edgier, a little dirtier, a little more adult. Jeffrey [Katzenberg] even had a phrase he used to say: Disney appeals to the child in every adult; we appeal to the adult in every child.” Shrek is not necessarily aimed at an audience of children. Its satire of Disney is sometimes obvious — see the Duloc introduction scene — and sometimes less so — see the film’s broader themes about demands for cultural conformity from political and cultural leaders, including Disney. Children may not spot the latter. Shrek had swearing, implicit and explicit references to genitalia and sex, the profane reference posed by Lord Farquaad’s name, manifold celebratory depictions of openly burping and farting, plenty of anti-mainstream and anti-establishment pop music, and a stiffness in its 3-D animation, even for 2001, that I can’t help but think was a purposeful middle finger to Disney’s intricate 2-D animation. Shrek won an Oscar and became beloved largely because of this: its open repudiation of Disney and its brand of children’s entertainment. Of course this children’s theater version of Shrek, which isn’t all that different than its Broadway counterpart, feels like it’s missing something. The core ethos of Shrek is gone. The lack of subversive pop music — particularly for a major animated film in the early 2000s in an adaptation of a film known for it (“All Star” is an ode to loserhood, “Bad Reputation” includes the word “damn” eight times, “Hallelujah” mentions watching a woman bathing on a roof) — leaves a gaping tonal void between what’s on stage and what we know Shrek is. And this pop music exclusion isn’t just an occurrence with this production — “All Star” wasn’t in the DreamWorks Theatricals version on Broadway either, and “I’m a Believer” was only included in the score in the latter three months of the show’s 12-month run. These songs’ absence in this slimmed-down version compounds with other factors to increase the more humble feel of this production. If I went to see this current touring production again, would I be able to do a better job looking at Shrek the Musical as its own thing, rather than an adaptation of Shrek that substitutes the film’s key thesis for something generally pro-individualism? Maybe. Children’s theater is wonderful. It’s so important that we have theater for children, and made by children, and it deserves more attention. Children’s theater can be some of the most effective theater out there, and little media is more important than media that does good for a child. But children’s theater, expectedly in context, is often lower-budget. A noticeably lower-budget look in a show’s costumes and set on a show that’s marketed as a post-Broadway tour, with already low-quality songs and writing, and changes to characters that result in a weaker narrative, can leave a bad taste in audience’s mouths. Notably, Tesori and Lindsay-Abaire are also the composer and lyricist team behind the critically acclaimed Kimberly Akimbo — which won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The music in Shrek the Musical does not seem up to the chops of a creative team of this quality. The Cast of ‘Shrek the Musical.’ Photo by Jason Anderson/Pendleton Photography. But even with all this said: the touring cast is going above and beyond: they are putting their souls into their performances. As Princess Fiona, Kelly Prendergast’s vocals are stunning, and her interpretation of the character is not only more lovable but also fits into the Shrek narrative more than the version of the character in the original film. Prendergast beautifully brings out the emotional depth of the musical’s added emphasis on Fiona’s imprisonment in a tower for more than two decades. It feels obvious that Prendergast is headed to Broadway. As Donkey, Naphtali Yaakov brings down the house. Even though he’s been fitted with what look like pajamas and facepaint, he takes his role with complete seriousness, bringing expert physicality and assuredness to his choreography and his own hilarious spin on line delivery. Nicholas Hambruch’s singing as Shrek was so good it made my mom cry and say “so many people feel alone like that!” He’s got Shrek’s physicality down — the hunched, thundering walk as well as moments of gentle gianthood. He’s also such a trooper for wearing all that. Timmy Lewis is also wonderful as Lord Farquaad. Even if this version of the show has taken Lord Faarquad off his knees and entirely thrown out the joke that he’s short, and also made effeminateness his defining trait as opposed to unfounded masculinity, Lewis makes Faarquad hilarious and threatening. The result is these changes make Lord Faarquad into more of a televangelist Trump than the Kim Jong Un he was in the original film, and he’s not as effective as a villain as a result — particularly because his role in the story is his possessiveness of women and dictatorial wielding of power, both traits on the extreme end of traditional masculinity, not femininity — but Lewis’ high-energy performance and fantastic comic timing brings out the comedy to be had. Is Shrek the Musical true to the spirit of Shrek the film? Not really. Does it make its own creative choices that are just as satisfying as an experience? Not especially. Does it still have something interesting, and most important, entertaining to offer? Absolutely. Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes with one ten-minute intermission. Shrek the Musical played September 20 to 22, 2024, at Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road, Tysons, VA. Purchase tickets $58–$108, with limited number of $25 student tickets) online. The cast for Shrek the Musical is on the national tour website here. SEE ALSO: Broadway in Tysons returns to Capital One Hall for 2024/25 season (news story, April 25, 2024)