Shrek The Musical: Daniel Breaker will join the cast replacing Chester Gregory; Kecia Lewis-Evans departs production

Following a successful try-out engagement in Seattle, Shrek: The Musical will open at Broadway Theatre on 14 Dec 2008, following previews from 8 Nov 2008, as previously announced.

The Shrek: The Musical creative team is making the following changes and additions to the show, in light of what they have learned during the out-of-town run, which they will start to implement when the show goes back into scheduled rehearsals on 6 Oct 2008.

Daniel Breaker will join the production in the role of 'Donkey.' He recently starred in 'Passing Strange' (2008) on Broadway, receiving a Tony Award nomination. The role of 'Donkey' was previously played by Chester Gregory during the Seattle run of Shrek: The Musical.

The role of the Dragon will be re-defined in the show. As first conceived, the voice of the dragon was performed by a principal vocalist, supported by a chorus of eight performers, and, following the Seattle run, the creative team is pursuing voicing the Dragon solely by the chorus.

Kecia Lewis-Evans, the principal who played the Dragon soloist in Seattle, has decided by mutual consent not to continue with the production on Broadway as part of the chorus.

The musical will stars Tony Award nominee Brian d'Arcy James as 'Shrek,' Tony Award winner Sutton Foster as 'Princess Fiona,' Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber as 'Lord Farquaad,' Tony Award nominee Daniel Breaker as Donkey and Tony Award nominee John Tartaglia as 'Pinocchio.'

Joining these actors onstage will be Haven Burton, Jennifer Cody, Ben Crawford, Bobby Daye, Ryan Duncan, Sarah Jane Everman, Aymee Garcia, Leah Greenhaus, Justin Greer, Lisa Ho, Chris Hoch, Danette Holden, Jacob Ming-Trent, Carolyn Ockert-Haythe, Marissa O�Donnell, Denny Paschall, Greg Reuter, Adam Riegler, Noah Rivera, Heather Jane Rolff, Jennifer Simard, Rachel Stern, Dennis Stowe, David F.M. Vaughn and Keaton Whittaker.

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 Jeanine Tesori (Olivier Award-winner for Caroline, or Change and three-time Tony Award nominee).

Shrek: The Musical will be directed by Jason Moore, who staged the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Avenue Q, and be choreographed by newcomer Josh Prince.

Set and costume design by Tim Hatley, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, with sound by Peter Hylenski.

Dreamwork Animations have released three box-office hit animation movies based on William Steig children's book written in 1990, about a young ogre who finds the ogre of his dreams when he leaves home to see the world. The name 'Shrek' is taken from the German and Yiddish word "Schreck"/"Shreck", meaning "fear, terror".

Shrek: The Musical will be Dreamwork Animations's first theatrical production. The production was initiated by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation, and Sam Mendes, who has a long-term relationship with DreamWorks. Mendes, a big fan of the first Shrek film, suggested the idea of creating a musical to DreamWorks� 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).