BIG NEWS!! Casting Confirmed for “Shrek!!!!” =D March 22, 2008

I have HUGE news, and I am SO excited to spread the word to you all!

Earlier in this blog I posted about how they are going to have “Shrek: The Musical.” Which I am VERY excited about. I now have another reason to be excited for this!

One of my favorite Broadway actors, Brian D’Arcy James, will be starring as Shrek!

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I’M SO EXCITED.

Also!! “Cry-Baby The Musical“s Chester Gregory II will be playing the Donkey and “Avenue Q” and Disney Channel’s “Johnny and the Sprites” John Tartaglia will be playing Pinocchio!

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Again, I’M SO EXCITED!

I saw Brian D’Arcy James star in “Sweet Smell of Success” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” “Sweet Smell of Success” was a musical I fell in love with completely after I saw it. The show revolves around the gossip columnists in newspapers and how they can cause good…and bad… in peoples’ lives. His character, Sidney, landed a job for JJ Hunsecker’s column (played by John Lithgow) through using JJ’s sister Susan’s (played by Kelli O’Hara) new boyfriend Dallas’ musical talents (played by Jack Noseworthy). The story unfolds and we find that getting the “dirt” about a person can lead to strong consequences. The music in this musical is perfect, a clash of ritzy classic showtune music to beautiful ballads to upbeat dance numbers. This show ended fast on Broadway but that didn’t mean it had a good run…Because it definitely did!

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” didn’t star John Lithgow during D’Arcy James’ run, BUT Lithgow was the original star in that production! So there’s a connection between the two plays. “Dirty Rotten Soundrels” is about a con artist (who at the time was played by Jonathan Pryce) who takes D’Arcy James under his wing and together they steal older women’s money through staying at a fancy hotel.

Now, both of these stories are different, but what I’m trying to get at here is D’Arcy James is a TALENTED man. He plays roles that are unique…Almost sidekick-esque roles that still intrigue the audience and win you over. I was won over through seeing both of these shows and I’m sure I will be won over by his role of Shrek. Personally, I’m excited by this choice from the casting directors. I truly believe this is a perfect fit. Well done!

Now unfortunately, I have no personal ideas regarding Chester Gregory II , but this is only because I have not had the chance to experience seeing him on stage. I’m sure he will be wonderful as the Donkey. I have high hopes!

John Tartaglia will be PERFECT for Pinocchio. I haven’t seen “Avenue Q,” but I have seen “Johnny and the Sprites,” because a friend of mine from high school that is on the rise in the musical theatre world, Justin Paul, along with Paul’s co-writer Benj Pasek (I will speak more about Pasek & Paul in a later entry) have been writing some songs for the show, which Tartaglia gets to sing! Tartaglia is another talented actor and his energetic personality will only benefit him tremendously in this upcoming role.

So this is all very exciting news! And I hope you find it exciting too. I remember only last year on my radio show finding out about the auditions for the role of Shrek and Donkey on the Actors’ Equity website. Me & Sarah (my co-host) were discussing how her boyfriend should try out (I don’t actually think he did though.)! But hey, as the saying goes, especially for the “Shrek” casting directors: What’s meant to be will find a way.

Bloggers: Now that I’ve told you all of this casting information do you think you’d want to head out and see the show?

I’m personally very excited! (As you can clearly see…wow.)

The musical will have its’ world premiere at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle from August 14th to September 21st, and then will officially open on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre December 14th!

To wrap up this blog, please enjoy John Tartaglia’s show “Johnny and the Sprites” where Tartaglia sings about how he “Just Can’t Get Enough” of a video game he’s playing! ( Pasek & Paul wrote this song too!!)

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(Images courtesy of iesb.net, broadway.com, wikipedia.org, timeinc.net, genesis-news.com, variety.com, scenicreflections.com, broadwaycares.org)