The giant green ogre that everyone goes gaga for has arrived in Glendale and surrounded on all sides by his adoring fans in The Nocturne Theatre’s terrifically entertaining in-the-round production of the multiple Tony-nominated Broadway hit Shrek The Musical.

 Far from being just another animated movie-turned-Broadway hit or a show designed only for tiny tots, the multiple Tony-nominated Shrek turns out to be a smart, funny, tuneful, unexpectedly moving musical treat with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori.

 Fans of the 2001 DreamWorks Animation smash will recall how seven-year-old Shrek found himself sent per ogre tradition to live life alone in the swamp, that is until the fairytale-loathing three-foot-tall Lord Farquaad (Drew Maidment) boots Pinocchio, Peter Pan, the Three Bears, the Big Bad Wolf, and other storybook creatures from their homes, giving them no other choice than to crash chez Shrek (a now fully-grown Nathanael O’Neal) until a friendly if overly loquacious Donkey (Johnathon O’Neal) persuades him to join in on a mission to change Lord Farquaad’s mind.

Meanwhile, the lovely/daffy Princess Fiona (Kellie Petrosian) awaits (and awaits and awaits) Prince Charming’s arrival, the better to make her escape both from a dragon-guarded tower and the clutches of a Fiona-obsessed Farquaad.

 Adventures quickly ensue in a show whose clever one-liners will whoosh right over child audience members’ heads and into grownup ears, and if those grownups have any familiarity with musical theater, then Shrek The Musical’s many hat-tips to Broadway classics will prove even more of a delight.

 Romcom lovers, too, will respond to this tale as old as time, one whose bullied, despised “freaks” will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever felt victimized, and even more so today than when the show made its Broadway debut 17 years ago. (The writers could scarcely have imagined how Farquaad’s relocation camp for undesirable fairytale characters would play in 2025.)

Tesori’s infectious music and Lindsay-Abaire’s craftily constructed lyrics run the gamut of musical genres as they sneak in references to Wicked, Dreamgirls, and Gypsy (to name just three) while Lindsay-Abaire’s dialog sticks close to the movie’s, a particularly savvy choice where Donkey (voiced in the film by the one-and-only Eddie Murphy) is concerned.

 All of this adds up to a show that parents and kids and teenagers on dates and musical theater nerds and AARP card holders and everyone in between can enjoy equally, and the lessons it sneaks in about not merely tolerating but actually celebrating our differences have never been more needed.

It’s also the Nocturne at its fantasy-tastic best, costume designer Tanya Cyr outdoing herself with dozens upon dozens of imaginative creations for fairytale characters galore (and a stageful of tap-dancing mice) and a return of Little Shop’s “Audrey Two,” this time in full-fledged dragon mode.

Director Justin Meyer just keeps getting better and better at staging shows in the round, ensuring that no matter which side of the square you sit on, you won’t feel shortchanged, nor will you by choreographer Melissa Schade, who delivers one showstopper after another, from the tap extravaganza that is “Morning Person” to the Broadway pizzazz of “Freak Flag” (the best LGBTQ anthem in years) to the surprise get-up-and-boogie “Finale” that Monkees fans will recognize from its opening chords.

Performance-wise too, Shrek is in expert hands beginning with the two (biologically unrelated) O’Neals.

 A sensational Nathanael never lets us forget that beneath Shrek’s bravado and insistence that he’s better off alone there beats a wounded heart silently aching for love, and in triple-threat newcomer Johnathon’s cute, cuddly, captivating Donkey, he has found the perfect best friend forever.

Petrosian is fierce, feisty perfection as Fiona, more than capable of giving Shrek as good as she gets while busiest-musical-theater-performer-in-town Maidment steals every single scene he’s in as the hilariously height-challenged Lord Farquaad, whose itty-bitty legs deserve their own round of applause.

 Nocturne favorite Thomas Adoye Polk is a splendidly spunky Pinocchio, Tara Cox shows off R&B power pipes as the Dragon, and like everyone else in Shrek’s miraculously multitasking adult cast—completed by Catherine Ballantyne, Kate Clarke, Renee Cohen, Logan Eliza, Jillian Golden, Kylie Grogan, Brendan Lynch, Melissa Meyer, Wes Morrow, Nicole Nelson, Troy Ozuna, Andreas Pantazis, dance captain Ernest Peiffer, and Michalis Schinas—all of the above play multiple roles each, with child charmers Scarlett Morrow and William Morrow completing the oh so talented ensemble.

Music director Nolan Monsibay elicits tiptop vocals from all concerned and sound engineer Matt Merline does a fine job of mixing amped vocals and prerecorded tracks, though less would be more where Donkey’s over-amplified spoken dialog is concerned.

Scenic designer Jay Michael Roberts and Justin Meyer know how to create a fairytale atmosphere on an arena stage without the advantage of proscenium backdrops, and Meyer’s lighting design is topnotch too.

Mackenzey Franklin is associate choreographer, Greg Feiler is creature builder, David French is scenic builder, Sydni Sawyer is scenic painter, Koalani Walkoe is costume assistant, and Micah Delhauer is assistant lighting designer and stage manager.

Casting is by Meyer2Meyer Entertainment. Brayden Hade is casting assistant.

Mix all of the above together and you’ve got two hours and forty-five minutes of big, bright, beautiful early-summer entertainment for kids and grownups alike.

The Nocturne Theatre, 324 N. Orange St., Glendale. Through July 20. See website for detailed performance schedule.
www.TheNocturneTheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
June 6, 2025
Photos: Brayden Hade

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: David Lindsay-Abaire, Jeanine Tesori, Los Angeles Theater Review, The Nocturne Theatre