DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE
BOOK & LYRICS
Q: Was it at all daunting for you to transform this wildly popular film into an equally loveable stage version?
A: I think the thing that makes it less scary is the amazing heart of the story, which was there in the Steig book. Obviously the humor is there and we all love the irreverence, but it's also an emotionally driven story and, at the end of the day, those are the best things in a musical.
You wait for the moment in a musical when a song is going to crack open a character's heart and the audience has the opportunity to see inside of it. Shrek... has the depth to it that allows it to be different from the movie so long as that heart is there. That's what we've done, we've worked hard to make it our own. We love the source material, and it is the Shrek you know and love, but we also had to let go of it and make it our own and DreamWorks has been fantastic and supporting of that.
And in what ways did you try to make it your own? What did you push yourselves to do and what did you discover about the material that you have drawn on?
Well, we were always asking ourselves: "What is it saying? Where is the moment you want to hear the characters sing?" In addition to that we ask: "What don't we know?" There are a lot of questions that the movie and the book raise that we were sort of curious about.
Princess Fiona, for example--how long has she been in the tower and what does she do all day? How does she get there? Who put her there? And you'll see that there is a song where we find out what this girl has been pining after for 23 years or however long she's been in that tower. And, Farquaad--what is his issue with those fairytale creatures and where did that come from? Those are all questions we answer in the musical version of this story.
A lot of people ask: what comes first the music or the lyrics? But it's more complicated than that; how do you and Jeanine work together and what is your process?
Well we talk a lot before we do anything. We pick apart a moment and say, "Okay, how do we dramatize this?" That process can go on for a long time before we start something. Whether lyrics or music come first, there's not a set way, it's whoever has a stronger impulse to go and do something. So say, for example, the lyrics come first. We'll draft up a lyric- or some form of a lyric- I'll give it to Jeanine, and Jeanine will respond accordingly and say, "This is great but what if this actually becomes the hook, and what if this B section actually becomes more of an expanded C section?"
Then it just goes back and forth like that many, many, many times. Jason obviously is also a part of this process and, at the end of it all, we put it in front of the production level people and we make a decision.
How did the actors affect you in terms of writing and are there songs that you have created around the specific people involved?
I know we wanted to step away from the voices from the characters in the movie because, as you should know, Eddie Murphy is not going to be in our musical. So, we needed to reinvent those characters in some way. Having great people like Sutton and Brian d'Arcy James, at least for me, makes my job much easier with the way they can sell something and create these characters.
JEANINE TESORI
MUSIC
Composer, Jeanine Tesori, is no stranger to the Broadway stage. Tesori most recently won the Olivier Award for her stunning score for the adventurous new musical, Caroline, or Change, which following a successful Broadway run, became a smash hit all over again at London’s National Theatre. She is best known for the splashy Tony-winning musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie and the widely acclaimed intimate musical, Violet.
The following is an excerpt from Jeanine’s interview with Producing Artistic Director of the 5th Avenue Theatre, David Armstrong, at the Spotlight on Shrek event in April.
Q: How familiar were you with the story of Shrek prior to taking on this project?
A: Well, I have a 10 year old daughter so I have seen Shrek millions of times; even more than I have seen Hannah Montana, and I’ve seen Hannah Montana a lot (laughs). But, the first time I saw it, we were on vacation in Florida and when the music first started I remember thinking, “It feels really traditional,” and “Oh, this is going to be great!” It was surprising to me because I didn’t know what it was before I went to see it and what a beautiful discovery it was. I think a lot of people felt that same way, which makes people able to watch it hundreds of times.
What is it that originally drew you to this project?
Well, if I didn’t believe that this piece was theatrically rich, I wouldn’t do it—it would just be a waste of everyone’s time. I think that this story has a really great heart, great wit, great courage and great intelligence. I think those elements lay down a path to people being able to sing to each other in narrative. In contrast, when you do the movie and you’re scoring it, the music sits on top of the image and that’s a very different kind of feeling. In theatre you’re taking human behavior, putting it up there and hoping that we can all share in something. That’s how I think our songs will convey this story on stage as opposed to watching it on screen.
What were some of the challenges you faced in transforming this piece from screen to stage?
I think one of the most difficult things for us in the beginning was we were afraid to move too far away from movie. When we first started working with Jeffery Katzenberg and Sam Mendes, we were afraid to stray too far and I remember the day that Jeffery said “You guys don’t get it, you have to make this thing your own. The movie is great but if we wanted to do the movie on stage that is what we would do.”
He and Sam, they think big, and have great ideas—so they actually needed to push us to be inspired by the movie, but not to obey it.
What are some of the particular characteristics of the movie that you have stayed true to and implemented into the musical version?
Like I said, it is such a great story. And, the most important part, we thought, was the humor involved; a humor that is appreciated and can be shared by both children and adults. This story is one that, you know, our kids can laugh at, we can laugh at, and sometimes we laugh along. It’s just that humor on both levels that has been a really interesting challenge.
JASON MOORE
DIRECTOR
The Tony Award-nominated director Jason Moore is at the helm of Broadway's Shrek The Musical.
Jason most recently directed the sold-out, critically acclaimed Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall and received rave reviews on Broadway and in London’s West End for his direction of the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q. He has become one of the most sought-after stage directors in New York and across the country.
The following is an excerpt from Jason’s interview with Producing Artistic Director of the 5th Avenue Theatre, David Armstrong, at the Spotlight on Shrek event in April.
Q: What was your Shrek exposure before your involvement on this project?
A: I had only seen it once. But I remember watching it thinking what a beautiful, traditional story told in a non-traditional way; a post-modern fairytale from a surprising point of view. It made me laugh and it surprised me.
Years later when I heard that DreamWorks was looking to change it into a musical, that’s when I went back and watched it a second time. The thing that stuck out to me was that it’s moving and it’s funny and those, to me, are great ideas for a musical.
How intimidating was it to take a beloved work like this and reinvent it for the stage?
We choose to not call it intimidating; we prefer challenging (laughs). One of the things that I thought was “intimidating” is trying to find a voice for the characters. I know it’s something that we talked about. Then you add the layer of what do those characters sound like when they sing?
So really trying to find those very specific, lovable, amazing, crystalline voices and then finding what do they sound like in music? That next layer, that next adaptation, has become the most exciting and challenging part.
What are some of the “challenges” of taking a non-musical movie and adapting it as a Broadway musical?
I think movies move at such a quick pace. Particularly Shrek; it’s funny, and moves quickly. Musicals naturally move at a slower pace. You have to slow down to sing, which allows you to go, “where are they coming from, where have they been, and what are they thinking underneath of what they are not saying.” That is what musicals expose. So I think we have put every character through the process of how do they get where they are, where do they want to be, and how do they expose that?
So everyone is dying to know: What’s Shrek going to look like?
You know one of my favorite experiences in the theatre is filing into the seats and looking up at that big red curtain and not knowing what going to happen. So I wouldn’t want to deprive you, or our audience with that experience.
What I can tell you is that you will recognize him as the character, and that he will be rendered in a surprising new theatrical way that makes it deserve to be in three dimensions rather than two. That’s what I can tell you. But again, the surprise is part of what’s fun about going to theater.
