Based on the Dreamworks Animation motion picture and the book by William Steig; book and lyrics, David Lindsay-Abaire; music, Jeanine Tesori; scenic and costume design, Tim Hatley; lighting design, Hugh Vanstone; sound design, Peter Hylenski; hair/wig design, David Brian-Brown; make-up design, Naomi Donne; puppet design, Tim Hatley; music director, Andy Grobengieser; orchestrations, Danny Troob; choreography, Josh Prince; directed by Jason Moore and Rob Ashford
Cast in alphabetical order:
Peter Pan, Guard, Dragon Head, Joe Abraham; Princess Fiona, Haven Burton; Queen Lillian, Wicked Witch, Blind Mouse, Holly Ann Butler; Mama Ogre, Tweedledum, Dragon, Carrie Compere; Bricks, Guard, Dragon Puppeteer, Tyrone Davis, Jr.; Young Shrek, Dwarf, Hayley Feinstein; Sticks, Guard, Dragon Puppeteer, David Foley, Jr.; Mama Bear, Gingy, Aymee Garcia; Papa Ogre, Straw, Knight, Pied Piper, Bishop, Brian Gonzales; Papa Bear, Blind Mouse, Cara Kem; King Herold, Big Bad Wolf, Captain of the Guard, Knight, Sean McKnight; Donkey, Alan Mingo, Jr.; Flutterbell, Mara Newbery; Ugly Duckling, Teen Fiona, Sarah Peak; Shrek, Eric Petersen; Guard, Dragon Puppeteer, Keven Quillon; Shoemaker's Elf, Blind Mouse, Morgan Rose; Pinocchio, Knight, Blakely Slaybaugh; Young Fiona, Danielle Soibelman; Lord Farquaad, David F.M. Vaughn
Performances: Run at The Bushnell Center for the Arts in Hartford, CT ended February 20; next tour stop is Buffalo, NY February 22-27, Shea's Performing Arts Center, 716-847-1410
Tickets: Complete tour schedule and ticket information are available at http://www.shrekthemusical.com/tickets.html
The national touring company of the big, bright Broadway musical Shrek brought some much needed warmth to New England this past week when it cast its fairytale 
spell on the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut. With an all-too-short one-week run that ended February 20, this fun-loving musical adaptation of the wildly popular DreamWorks film has a heart as big as the giant green ogre who lends his name to the fractured fable.
Librettist and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire and composer Jeanine Tesori have captured all the contemporary humor and quirky charm of the original film while adding clever musical theater anachronisms of their own. Their tongue-in-cheek word play, along with inventive sight gags developed by co-directors Jason Moore and Rob Ashford, skewer everything from the Gingerbread Man ("Eat me," he says while being tortured) to Dreamgirls ("You're gonna love me," sings a fire-breathing dragon). A particularly funny sequence has the reclusive Shrek (Eric Petersen) and his continually braying self-appointed companion Donkey (Alan Mingo, Jr.) marching through the woods singing the "Travel Song." As they make their way to rescue the beautiful Princess Fiona (Haven Burton) from her tower, only to deliver her to the obnoxious little Lord Farquaad (David F.M. Vaughn) as his bride, a parade of shadow puppets appear in the woods behind them. All are from other stories or musicals, and their out-of-context presence is both surprising and delightful.
