Shrek The Musical: Sutton Foster to star as Princess Fiona, reports the New York Post.
Michael Riedel of the New York Post reports that Sutton Foster is to star as Princess Fiona in the upcoming Broadway show Shrek: The Musical. There has been no official confirmation.
Sutton Foster currently stars as Inga in the new Mel Brook's musical Young Frankenstein. Sutton won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of 'Millie Dillmount' in 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' (2002). She was nominated for Tony Awards for her performances in 'Little Women' (2005) and The Drowsy Chaperone (2006).
Shrek will play an exclusive world premiere engagement at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, 14 Aug to 21 Sep 2008, prior to opening on Broadway in the Fall of 2008. Preview performances will begin in early November at a theater to be announced.
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 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 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 and lighting by Hugh Vanstone.
Casting and additional members of the creative team will be announced shortly.
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 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).
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