'Shrek, The Musical' Stays True To The Story, Actors Say
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Wagon Wheel Theatre is starting this summer season with a family friendly musical based on a hit animated movie – “Shrek, the Musical.” “Shrek in the musical, it’s very true to the story with slight things like Shrek doesn’t meet Donkey until later in the story than compared to the movie. But as a character, he’s pretty much the same. He goes on the same journey as the movie,” stated Matthew Janisse, who plays Shrek in the production, during an interview Monday afternoon. David Schlumpf, who plays the villain Lord Farquaad, said, “And I think the big difference for Farquaad is just sort of the, well, trying to figure out how to create a character that’s as short as he is. So everything else is pretty true to his character. But the gag becomes how you see Farquaad. He’s so different in height compared to Shrek. It’s a pretty hilarious gag.” Schlumpf is about 6 feet tall, but figuring out how to play a short man like Farquaad didn’t take a lot of work. “I will say like there was one moment in rehearsals where, because I am a pretty tall guy, so the way we were doing it, I was having to look up to people all the time to do these scenes. It’s really kind of the first time I’ve ever really had to look up to people, so for a brief moment I was like, ‘Oh, gotcha! This is like major Napoleon syndrome. I got that. I understand this now. I understand why he’s so frustrated. Cool. Done. Great character. Check,’” Schlumpf explained. “It’s really, really interesting. It’s always neat to play characters so different from yourself. This is a stretch for me and it’s different from anything I’ve ever done before,” he continued. Janisse, however, finds he has some commonality with Shrek. “I actually think Shrek may be the closest thing to myself I’ve ever played,” he observed. “I tend to get cast in very angry people roles. Just because I’m attached to my anger. But him being goofy with these soft, sweet moments, is more than I’ve gotten to play in a long time, so I’m glad to get back into comedy.” Schlumpf was surprised Janisse plays angry roles all the time. He said Janisse is such a nice, quiet guy. To back his statement up, Janisse said some of the angry roles he’s previously played included Billy Bigelow in “Carousel” and Roger in “Rent.” “I’m just an angry guy!” Janisse joked. “On stage,” Schlumpf interjected. To get physically into the role of Shrek, Janisse has to put on a combination of costume and makeup. “It takes an hour and a half right now, but the more times we do it, we take it down. A lot of costume underneath. Obviously, the padding, and I have like three-inch platform heels to make me taller than everyone. But the face itself is divided into three pieces with a mouth piece, a head piece and something that wraps around my entire head,” Janisse explained. There are ears and a few things around his mouth that are glued-on prosthetics. He said they do a real good job of accented the facial features and they move with his face. “It’s not bad at all. I was expecting three hours, sleeping in a chair while they do things to me,” Janisse said, laughing. After the first “Shrek” movie did so well in 2001, three sequels were made and the stage version was produced. Schlumpf and Janisse provided their own insights into why “Shrek” is so popular, not only with kids but also grownups. “I’ve always thought that, the cool thing about the Shrek movies is that it’s an adult movie that kind of has this faint children’s story going on,” Schlumpf explained. “It has the appearance of being a fairy tale of a kid’s movie. People can really bring their kids and they can watch, but all this really intelligent and sometimes bawdy humor completely goes over their kids’ heads, so it’s this rare thing where ... both the kids and the parents really get to enjoy the story. And I think that’s really true for this script, too.” There are moments that are really cool for the kids, he said, but there are also moments for the adults. “Some of the magic that’s being done in this show with puppetry and costuming, it’s just going to be for everyone. That’s what I think is really great about this story and with the musical, too,” Schlumpf concluded. “The first (movie), I think, was a lot more groundbreaking than the rest of the franchise,” Janisse commented. “From the first one comes the gritty adult humor that the musical and the movie has, as opposed to the second and third and fourth got progressively cartoonier and (simplified) to a younger audience. But this, the musical, is way more rooted in the first one, which has that adult humor. Nothing that is smut or over the top.” The catchiest song in the show, and one that most people recognize, is “I’m A Believer” by The Monkees, which was covered by Smash Mouth. Schlumpf said many of the songs are just as catchy and fun. “Yeah, everything is really catchy and everyone sort of has their own ... style of their own,” Schlumpf said. He said Shrek’s numbers are really “rocky,” while Lord Farquaad’s songs are “all over the place.” “I love the Farquaad songs,” admitted Janisse to Schlumpf. “They’re literally, your first song is very show tuney. And then your second song is a western. It’s a western!” The fairy tale characters have their musical style, but Donkey’s music, Janisse said, is very much in the Motown style. He said he likes the fact that different characters have different styles, as opposed to other musicals that have the same sound throughout. “‘Shrek’ really has ... each character has their pivotal style to go with them,” he noted. Each character having their own musical style is part of the bigger moral of the story, according to the two Wagon Wheel veterans. “For me, the difference with the musical is that they’ve really pushed this idea of being different. It’s not just OK, it’s celebrated. It’s the things that make you different that make you strong. That’s close to one of the lines that they say in the music,” Schlumpf acknowledged. “Yeah, I think that’s very true,” Janisse agreed. “Because in the movie you tend to focus on the main characters, whereas in the musical you really get to flesh out all the other fairy tale creatures and really get a sense. Whereas the movie is about Shrek’s and Fiona’s love, which is still prevalent in the musical, but you also get a sense it’s the struggle of being different.” Schlumpf encouraged everyone to come out to the show. “It’s rare that I see a show where I’m part of the show where I’m blown away by the magic that I see on stage. And like I said, the puppetry and the magic in the show is really, really phenomenal and I think it’s going to blow people away. So you don’t want to miss it,” he stated. Ending its national tour in April this year, “Shrek, the Musical” makes its regional debut only at the Wagon Wheel Theatre in Warsaw June 5-15. Tickets range from $18-$36. Discounts are available for college students and on designated performances for seniors. For more information, visit wagonwheeltheatre.org or call 574-267-8041.
