History Theatre / ShrekTheMusical

* EarlyBirdCameo: Puss in Boots, the IconicSequelCharacter from the film series, is given a quick cameo during "Travel Song".

** The Fairy Godmother uses her ''Shrek 2'' design despite being [[AdaptationalHeroism a heroic character]] here, which nonetheless doesn't discount a potential ''Shrek 2'' musical from showing her to be EvilAllAlong.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Dragon ranting about how princes are only interested in the more classically attractive Fiona and no one thinks that she might be waiting for someone too sounds an awful lot like a frustrated girl who doesn't fit the regular mold of beauty. The fact that she instantly falls in love with Donkey after he tells her Fiona isn't his type and he goes for big girls enhances the metaphor.

* {{Adorkable}}: Shrek comes off as adorably awkward in "When Words Fail", when he's trying to think of the right way to confess his love to Fiona, continually [[OpenMouthInsertFoot making mistakes]], [[DiggingYourselfDeeper digging himself deeper]], and generally rambling during an attempted romantic monologue. As the title implies, this ends up PlayedForDrama as he initially worries that his awkwardness will prevent him from being able to get his point across.

** It's a common gag for Lord Farquaad to give his white horse different names in every performance. During one show, he blatantly calls it "Reference to the [[{{WesternAnimation/Shrek2}} Second Movie]]".
** [[Disney/TheLionKing Giraffe and gazelle puppets]] make a brief appearance during "Travel Song", complete with a parody of the opening chant from "Circle of Life".

'''Gnome:''' Stop mailing all those sweet but slightly threatening fanletters to Disney/TheLittleMermaid?

'''Farquaad's Father:''' ''Abandoned'' you?! You were twenty-eight! ''[[BasementDweller And living in my basement!]]''

* AdaptationDistillation: While the show is mainly based on the first film, it includes Shrek's backstory from the original William Steig book (his parents kicked him out of the house and sent him off on his own). Unlike the book, however, he was kicked out as a ''child'' rather than an adult.

* SuddenlyVoiced: Dragon. She even got a song.

** In Seattle tryouts, "Story of My Life" was not included. Instead, there was a song which served as an extended ''Theatre/AChorusLine'' in which the fairy tale creatures "audition" before Farquaad, who is offstage beyond the fourth wall a la Zach in ''Chorus Line''. The Broadway version arguably kept this element in the choreography.

** In Seattle tryouts, "Story of My Life" was not included. Instead, there was a song which served as an extended Theatre/AChorusLine in which the fairy tale creatures "audition" before Farquaad, who is offstage beyond the fourth wall a la Zach in ''Chorus Line''. The Broadway version arguably kept this element in the choreography.

** In several of the YouTube clips of the show, Dragon's singing voice is fairly high and jazzy.

-->'''Farquaad:''' No father of mine would've abandoned me in the woods as a child!\\

** Farquad's short stature and FantasticRacism turns out to be because [[spoiler: he's actually [[SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarves Grumpy]]'s son.]]
** The Fairytale Creatures realize that their natural way of dealing with problems (wait until a hero solves it for them) won't work this time and that they need to stand up for themselves. More specifically, Pinnocio has to accept the fact that he's a wooden boy, and that he doesn't need to be a real boy in order to be said hero.

** Farquad has ahades of this, but avoids fully committing to the trope. He gets distracted in the bath, calls his father "daddy" and is incredibly petty. His own description of his backstory (that he was kicked out as a child) and his father's version (that he was twenty eight) indicates he may have been a full-blown ManChild before becoming ruler of Duloc.

** At the end of the reprise for "What's Up, Duloc?", Lord Farquaad "levitates" to the top of his castle and imitates the iconic "Defying Gravity" riff from ''{{Theater/Wicked}}''. He even sings "nothing will bring me down" while the people below him reach out as if to grab him, just like in Wicked.

** At the end of "Forever", Dragon holds a note and takes a deep breath before finishing the song, similar to the end of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" from ''{{Theater/Dreamgirls}}''.
** In more recent productions of the show, there's a visual gag during "Freak Flag" where one of the fairy tale creatures [[http://www.cheaptheatretickets.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Shrek-Freak-Flag.jpg waves a large flag in the background]], an obvious reference to ''[[{{Theater/LesMiserables}} Les Miserables]]''. The flag even sports a picture of Pinocchio drawn to look like Cosette.