These actors will be joined on stage by previously announced cast members Tony Award-winner Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona, Tony Award-nominee Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad and Kecia Lewis-Evans as The Dragon. Additional casting will be announced soon.
SHREK THE MUSICAL will play an exclusive world premiere engagement at The 5th Avenue Theatre August 14 - September 21, prior to opening on Broadway December 14, 2008.
SHREK THE MUSICAL is an entirely new musical based on the story and characters from William Steig's book Shrek!, as well as the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek, the first chapter of the Shrek movie series.
SHREK THE MUSICAL features a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner, David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), music by Olivier Award-winner Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie & Caroline, or Change) and is directed by Tony Award-nominee Jason Moore, who staged the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Avenue Q and Jerry Springer - The Opera in Concert at Carnegie Hall.
SHREK THE MUSICAL is DreamWorks Animation's first venture in legitimate theater. The production was initiated when Sam Mendes, a big fan of the first Shrek film, suggested the idea of creating a musical to DreamWorks Animation's Jeffrey Katzenberg around the time the second film was in production. The musical is being produced by DreamWorks Theatricals (Bill Damaschke, President) and Neal Street Productions, Ltd (principals Sam Mendes and Caro Newling).
Other members of the SHREK THE MUSICAL creative team include Tony Award-winning set and costume designer, Tim Hatley (Monty Python's Spamalot, Private Lives, among others) and three-time Olivier Award-winning lighting designer, Hugh Vanstone, whose Broadway credits include Monty Python's Spamalot, Bombay Dreams, The Blue Room and Art, and sound designer Peter Hylenski (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me and upcoming, Cry-Baby) The choreography is by newcomer Josh Prince, and Tim Weil (Rent) is serving as music director.
SHREK THE MUSICAL is based on a popular 1990 book by William Steig. The characters of Shrek, Donkey and Fiona, and the other inhabitants of "Far, Far Away" have been featured in three major animated films and a popular television special to date. The first Shrek feature film hit theaters in the summer of 2001, and went on to win the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The 2004 sequel, Shrek 2, remains the third highest grossing movie of all time and highest grossing animated film of all time. The latest chapter of the Shrek story, Shrek the Third, is the 2nd highest grossing film of 2007. Shrek the Halls, the recent ABC television special, was one of the most watched TV programs of 2007. -- www.5thavenue.org