Review: Shrek the Musical at Koorliny Arts Centre

Shrek the Musical at Koorliny Arts Centre
Friday, November 14, 2025

On Friday, the 14th of November, it was the opening night of the one-week run of Shrek the Musical, playing through November 22nd, and Koorliny Arts Centre was about as snug as a storybook cottage—just a handful of rows. Before the lights even dimmed, Shrek’s booming voice barrelled through the speakers, warning us to buckle up, ogre-style: no wandering into his swamp, no glowing pocket-suns (phones), and absolutely no posting his mug all over the socials. In other words, no paparazzi shots of unexpected ogre encounters.

Shrek is played by Daniel Burton, a seasoned theatre gem who has already stomped through Little Shop of Horrors, Young Frankenstein, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid. So we’re firmly in fairytale-adjacent territory—though Princess Fiona, played by Ciara Taylor (Chicago: A Musical Vaudeville, A Chorus Line, Strictly Ballroom), doesn’t seem likely to reenact that iconic Shrek 2 moment where Ariel gets tossed back into the sea after landing on top of Shrek.

For the uninitiated, Shrek the Musical is the Tony Award–nominated stage spin on the original film—the Oscar-winning DreamWorks animation that shaped an entire generation’s humour—and features an original score by Jeanine Tesori with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Where the movie explores ideas of being and feeling chosen through onion metaphors, the musical leans into character-deepening songs that reveal how each one handles that same ache. It opens with Shrek’s Big Bright Beautiful World, which returns in Act Two for an emotional reprise.

I Know It’s Today is especially affecting, weaving together all three versions of Fiona: Taylor’s full-grown, delightfully expressive princess; 12-year-old Violette Russo as young Fiona; and Imogen Guppy as teen Fiona, all charting the thousands of lonely days she spent locked in a tower, dreaming of tearing out the pages of her fairytale that force her to wait for true love’s first kiss.

Our snarky, bob-tressed Lord Farquaad, played by Mark Thompson, when not sipping from a juice box plastered with his own face, brings sharp comedic charm to What’s Up, Duloc? but doesn’t shy away from his daddy issue subplot in the DNA-reveal showstopper, The Ballad of Farquaad. It finally answers the long-speculated question of whether his parents are stitched into the teardrop cutouts of his garment—yes, that includes Snow White.

But nothing proves more touching than Who I’d Be, a Shrek-centric song that begins tentatively and unfolds into a sincere declaration. If he had any say in how people perceive him, he’d want to be seen as a hero, not the monster others have forced him to label himself as. The number begins with our resident comedian, Donkey, played by Bailey Bridgman-Peters (Grease, Tarzan, American Idiot), who is the undeniable scene-stealer of the swamp. He throws his entire body into the role—fist-bumping hooves, full-body wiggle during his bow—with such electric energy that if you closed your eyes, you could swear Eddie Murphy’s spirit briefly clocked in for work. He completely commands Travel Song, a Donkey-and-Shrek duet featuring playful pop-culture nods, including references to The Lion King.

But the comedy isn’t limited to Donkey; it also shines in I Think I Got You Beat, where Shrek and Fiona launch into a gleefully chaotic fart-and-belch competition.

Shrek the Musical thrives within its intimate setting, using the small room to its advantage. Cast members appear in the aisles, and the production leans into meta moments—Lord Farquaad ropes the audience into the “lottery” of who will rescue Fiona. During the wedding scene, he expresses genuine dismay when she chooses Shrek, folding us neatly into the fairytale’s world. And yet, it all still feels unmistakably Shrek: giant Lord Farquaad heads, Muffin Man references, and a warm, lingering sense of being chosen.

By curtain call, it was clear that this cast wasn’t just putting on a show—they were celebrating everything that makes Shrek the unapologetically weird, wonderfully heartfelt gem it is. In a space as compact as Koorliny Arts Centre, the story landed bigger, brighter, and messier in all the right ways, proving that sometimes the most powerful fairytales are the ones that feel close enough to touch.

RACHEL FINUCANE