Detailed Analysis Report: The American Musical Theatre - Shrek

This report provides a detailed analysis of the musical 'Shrek.' The author expresses excitement about the production, highlighting the engaging setup, music, and characters. The music is described as stimulating and effectively conveying its message. Friendship and love are identified as the most compelling themes. The production's pace and tempo are deemed appropriate, enhancing the storytelling. The author is impressed by the characters, particularly Shrek, finding him relatable. The style and design, including costumes and lighting, are considered effective in enhancing the storytelling. The music effectively expresses characters and themes, with 'This is How a Dream Comes True' as a favorite song. The analysis incorporates musical theater vocabulary and references relevant sources.

Student’s Name
Student’s Name
Professor
Music
01 March 2020
The American Musical Theatre Musical
Overall Production
I was very excited to see it. Ever since the starting I was very engaged to the musical, the
background i.e., the setup, the music, characters, and everything was so beautiful yet exciting that I
couldn't stop smiling and watching. As far as my liking towards the music is concerned I found it
incredibly stimulating, there wasn't a single point where I would say I thought of it as evocative. It
gracefully conveyed what it wanted to rather than confusing the viewers/listeners. However, the theme
that I found most compelling was both friendship and love.
I found the production to be an effective and compelling way to be entertained or educated as it
would not only teach students but at the same time would be an extraordinary way for them to recreate.
Moreover, the tempo and pace, were immensely useful and appropriate, and this was one of the
reasons why the story got accurately portrayed in the exact manner in which it was supposed to.
Moreover, one line to describe the musical ‘The best way to know the Life of Shrek.’
Character
I was impressed by almost all the characters. However, the particular character that I
was most drawn to was that of Shrek’ himself because he had the highlight. Seeing him
grown up and doing things were quite relatable. Every character through their actions, speech,
and singing, displayed their perception towards others, their behavior, which depicted how, as
a character, they were (Melchiori, and Mallett). They all tried to share what they knew and

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what made them the personalities as a character that they were. Yes! Once again, I would say
Shrek. This is because I can understand and relate to the feeling that when people in the world
without even knowing you, judge you. Therefore, Shrek was relatable as it he would then deal
accordingly, taking advantage of other's misinterpretation about him ("Shrek The Musical
(Musical) Plot & Characters").
Style & Design
A scene where Shrek comes to rescue the princess, and she lies down and closes her
eyes in a hurry was one thing I found hilarious out of all the humor in the musical. In
particular, her body language in getting to lie down was funny. The style and design of the
production were effective. Initially, it was the style and design of the production that depicted
the level of the musical. It is until the characters come and start the show it is the design and
style which keeps the audience guessing or bound to the show. Nothing specifically I would
say stood out as everything complemented the other, and together, such an amazing musical
got into the picture. Everything was perfect.
Moreover, the costumes, together with the background setup, were the backbone of the
whole musical ("Importance Of Makeup & Costumes In Theatre"). I believe without the
proper costumes; things wouldn’t have been as impactful as they were.
As mentioned above, the costumes together with the setup, which also includes
lightning, added more detailing to the storytelling. In the absence of proper lighting, the scenes
couldn't have been executed and projected in a way that was done, and therefore it wouldn't
have been this impactful. The lightning, too, had a significant role parallel to costumes. This is
because it was lightning that highlighted when and what supposed to be underlined, especially
the characters, which made the vision magnifying for the audience and developed an
understanding of the present scene. The fluctuation of lightning from dim to bright and vice
versa depending upon the scene was enough for the audience to realize the mood and
significance of the scene ("Why Lighting Is Important To The Theatre").

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Musical
The music was amazingly effective as well as impressive in expressing the characters as well as
themes throughout the musical. The background music for each character taking the significant
portion in the musical overall was in accordance with his role, which embedded a sense of
understanding about the part/nature of the character. My favorite song from the musical is 'This is
how a dream come true’(Lyrics et al.). The reason behind likeness towards the song is the lyrics,
which, in my opinion conveys a strong message on not giving up on love and waiting. The signing
throughout the musical was adoptive to the genres demanded by the situation. The instruments used
throughout the musical were very playful and expressive. As far as the genre of music is concerned,
throughout the musical, opera, ballad, singspiel, and operetta, almost all the genres were
used(Rodman).

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References
"Importance Of Makeup & Costumes In Theatre". Our Pastimes, 2020, https://ourpastimes.com/importance-of-
makeup-costumes-in-theatre-12509382.html.
"Shrek The Musical (Musical) Plot & Characters". Stageagent, 2020,
https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/3905/shrek-the-musical.
"Why Lighting Is Important To The Theatre". Our Pastimes, 2020, https://ourpastimes.com/why-lighting-is-
important-to-the-theatre-12260524.html.
Lyrics, Song et al. "This Is How A Dream Comes True - Shrek: The Musical". Songlyrics.Com, 2020,
http://www.songlyrics.com/shrek-the-musical/this-is-how-a-dream-comes-true-lyrics/.
Melchiori, Kala J., and Robyn K. Mallett. "Using Shrek To Teach About Stigma". Teaching Of Psychology, vol
42, no. 3, 2015, pp. 260-265. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/0098628315589502.
Rodman. "Television Genre / Musical Genre / Expressive Genre". American Music, vol 37, no. 4, 2019, p.
435. University Of Illinois Press, doi:10.5406/americanmusic.37.4.0435.