Shrek The Musical

We were very excited recently to go check out The Muny. 

The Muny - short for Municiple Theater Association of St Louis - is an outdoor amphitheater.  We've heard a lot about it but hadn't had a chance to go.

Fortunately, Shrek the Musical was playing  and we decided that would be an excellent opportunity to take Katie and experience a little musical culture.

I'd never heard of Shrek the Musical but now I will never get some of the songs out of my head.  We enjoyed it enormously!

We had decided to drive over early - we live on military time and we have learned the hard way that the first time we go somewhere we should plan to be lost, have a flat tire, possibly hit traffic, or lose our tickets.  We don't like to be late, not by one minute, and we tend to be very, very early on a first outing in order to resolve all obstacles which somehow always seem to be out to get us.

We found it with no issue, and saw two cars parked on the curb.  We debated whether or not we were allowed to park on the curb as not many other people seemed to be doing it.  We finally agreed that the curb wasn't painted yellow, and there were no signs saying you couldn't park there, so we would go ahead and park.

We were almost two hours early, and within thirty minutes of our arrival, there was not one parking spot left on that curb.  Yay for being early.  

The Muny is in a large park which also contains the Zoo, the Art Museum, a glass greenhouse in which a wedding was taking place and a really large park.  So we wandered about for a while just enjoying the scenery.

As we finally got close to The Muny, we saw an insanely long line of people standing in line and we wondered what it was for.  These people had come with chairs, books, and picnics.  Whatever they were waiting for, they had come prepared for a long wait.

I approached one of the ladies in line and asked her what the line was for.

"The free seats for Shrek," she responded.

Apparently, they reserve the entire back section and give those seats away for free, first come, first served.  Which is awfully nice of them.  Take binoculars with you.

 We had paid for our seats and this is how far away from the stage we were.

We could see fairly well, but in order to get a good close-up view, we did actually use binoculars.

Then we could see quite well.

The show was a riot!  It is a great mix of some of the best parts from the movie as well as some new bits to keep it fresh.  And let me tell you, fireflies were flitting around us during the show which just added to the awesome fairy tale atmosphere.

I will say this though.  We were early.  We like to be early, we plan to be early, we are early people.

Do you have any idea how many people do not arrive early?  Can you even guess how many people were trying to find their seats after the show had freakin' started?  Do you know how much of the action on stage we could not see as we had dozens of tardy people worming their way down the rows in front of us trying to get to their seats?

A lot.

And I hated them all with the white hot passion of a thousand suns.

AND, (just this one thing and then I'll be done) at the front of our Muny program, which they hand out for free as you enter the theater (late people shouldn't get them or should have to pay- just saying) they have a section on theater etiquette.  It says:

"Many of you will be bringing children to the theatre for their first theatrical performance. Good theatre manners cannot begin too young, and to this end The Muny would like to outline some of the basic principles of Theatre Etiquette.  As a courtesy to other patrons around you, please remember:

• Curtain time at The Muny is always 8:15 p.m. Try to arrive early. If you cannot avoid arriving late, wait for a pause in the action to find your seat.
• Please turn off pagers and cell phones, and please do not text message during performances. Extra sounds and lights are distracting.
• Be considerate of the people around you.  Will your whispering prevent other people from hearing the show? Also, be careful not to rattle your program or candy wrappers during the show.
• When you sit on your mother's lap are you taller than she is? The person behind you may not be able to see over your head.
• Intermission is the time to get a soda, a pretzel and to use the restroom. If you must leave during the show, please be quiet as you leave and don't talk or run in the aisles.
• Please do not sing along with the show.
• Please remember...the show is not over until after the actors have taken their curtain calls. They have all worked very hard to entertain you and it is very rude to leave before they have made their final exit. It is also irritating to other theatre-goers."

People should have to sign that baby before they are allowed to take their seats.  

Not only that, Pinocchio himself announced before the show began that anyone who used a cell phone to text, talk, or as a flashlight would be eaten by a dragon.

Not only was every single rule on that list broken within spitting distance of where we were sitting (the kids in front of us played musical chairs during the entire show but I never said anything until one of the boys threw popcorn into his sister's hair and when she turned her head it fell into my drink of which I then did not partake for the rest of the evening), but the cell phone one is apparently incredibly difficult to enforce.  Cell phone addicts abound in this country and they are not the least bit apologetic.  The two teen girls in the row in front of us checked their emails and texts constantly through the entire second half of the show.  Two other folks near us used their phones as flashlights to read their programs.  

I prayed for Jehovah's Witnesses to visit them all on a regular basis, forever.

Anyway, since we are not allowed to film a live show, which is as it should be, I snagged these bits of Shrek the Musical off of YouTube to share with you here.

Check out Lord Farquad.  The actor has to run around on his knees the entire show, with little legs strapped to his thighs to make him look really short.

This is Fiona as a young girl, a teenager, and a grown-up singing about her life in the tower.

This is the bit where Shrek and Fiona start off disliking each other and trying to see who had the worst life growing up, but by the end of the song, they've found they have a lot in common.  This song is guaranteed to make every kids in the audience laugh hysterically.

Enjoy!