There are some subtle and not-so-subtle references to numerous Broadway musicals and shows in Shrek the Musical. How many can you hear and spot? See if you can catch the nods to Gypsy, Rent, Miss Saigon, Chicago, Wicked, The Lion King, Dreamgirls and an homage to Bob Fosse.
It took over five weeks working Monday to Saturday, (and some Sundays too), to build Dragon. The heaviest part of her is her head. Her lip color is "candy apple red".
There are 234 light dimmers, (each are 1.2 kilowatts), for the Main Stage. 39 of them control the lights that are on while the audience enters and leaves the theater. We have used every single one of the other 195. They are controlling 6 par can lights,15 cyc lights, 33 parnels and 56 lekos, and 100 strip lights. The moving lights are a beast on their own not run by our dimmers. The seven of them eat up 175 channels!
We have used almost 400 feet of stage 3 pin extension cords.
A regular household bulb is, on average, 40-60 watts. We use everthing from 50 watt halogen bulbs to 1000 watt quartz bulbs in our cyc lights. There are 15,000 watts aimed at the cyc alone, (the cyc is that giant drape of white material at the back of the stage which is never actually left white.
We've given Fiona some interesting reading material to keep her busy in her tower for the 8523 days she's spent in there. Most of the titles are tongue in cheek, making reference to her first song in the show. They include "So, You're Bipolar", "Chamber Pots - a Guide" and "How to Bowl".
Every year we make sure that we give our director a nod by hiding her name somewhere on the set. This year, we've given her a book in Fiona's library entitled "Woes of the Waal". Given the wild year our vocal director has experienced, we've given tribute to her in the form of a book on the shelf as well entitled "Cush's Crisis".
For every performance, we will use 25 pounds of ice to make low lying fog.
It takes Shrek over an hour to get ready for each show.
"I'm a Believer" was written by Neil Diamond in 1966. Since then it has officially been recorded for 26 other albums including both the animated feature, Shrek, (performed by the group Smashmouth), as well as the original Broadway cast recording for Shrek the Musical. Neil Diamond himself recorded a slowed down more accoustic version of the song for his own 2010 album, "Dreams"
SHREK TRIVIA
1. What are the names of Fiona's parents?
2. In which fairy tale land does the tale of Shrek take place?
3. Lord Farquaad would like to be king of what city?
4. In Shrek the Musical, Fiona sings a song called "I Know it's Today". What does she "know" will happen today?
5. What dessert does Donkey compare to ogres?
