Tickets Go On Sale for Shrek at the Orpheum, 10/3

SHREK THE MUSICAL, which plays the Orpheum Theatre December 1, 2010 through January 2, 2011, kicks off the 2010-2011 Best of Broadway series under the direction of Carole Shorenstein Hays.  Tickets go on sale Sunday, October 3.

An entirely new musical, SHREK THE MUSICAL is 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 THE MUSICAL tells the story of a swamp-dwelling ogre who goes on a life-changing adventure to reclaim the deed to his land. Joined by a wise-cracking donkey, this unlikely hero fights a fearsome dragon, rescues a feisty princess and learns that real friendship and true love aren't only found in fairy tales.

"We are thrilled to send SHREK THE MUSICAL to theatres across the country," said Bill Damaschke, President of DreamWorks Theatricals, "and for American families to experience their favorite ogre and fairy tale creatures live on stage."

The role of everyone's favorite swamp-dwelling ogre, Shrek will be played by Eric Petersen, who joins the tour from the Broadway production.  He recently appeared as the socially challenged Barfee in the National tour of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  Haven Burton, also from the Broadway Company will play the feisty Princess Fiona.  Haven previously played Margo the Dog Whisperer on Broadway in Legally Blonde and understudied Elle Woods.  Alan Mingo, Jr. is Shrek's lovably annoying best friend Donkey.  He was an original company member of The Little Mermaid where he played the role of Sebastian, and prior to that played the role of Tom Collins in RENT on Broadway.  David F.M. Vaughn plays the vertically challenged villain Lord Farquaad.  He too joins the tour from the Broadway Company.  He has also appeared in Les Misérables and Saturday Night Fever.

Rounding out the cast of misfit fairy tale characters, the peoples of Duloc and Far, Far Away are:  Joe Abraham, Kevin Boseman, Holly Ann Butler, Carrie Compere, Emily Cramer, Tyrone Davis, Jr., Sandra DeNise, Scarlett Diaz, David Foley, Aymee Garcia, Brian Gonzales, Justin Greer, Lisa Ho, Benjamin Howes, Madison Mullahey, Mara Newbery, Denny Paschall, Sarah Peak, Keven Quillon, Morgan Rose, Jason W. Shuffler and Blakely Slaybaugh.

SHREK THE MUSICAL features a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize® winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), music by Olivier Award-winner Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie,  Caroline, or Change), and is directed by Tony Award® nominee Jason Moore (Avenue Q) and Tony and Emmy Award-winner Rob Ashford (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Promises Promises). SHREK THE MUSICAL has set and costume designs by Tony Award® winner Tim Hatley (Private Lives, Spamalot), lighting design by Olivier Award winner Hugh Vanstone (A Steady Rain), sound design by Peter Hylenski (Rock of Ages); choreography by Josh Prince, music supervision by Tim Weil, music direction by Andy Grobengieser, and orchestrations by Danny Troob & John Clancy.

SHREK THE MUSICAL was initiated when Sam Mendes, a big fan of the first Shrek film, suggested the idea of creating a musical to Dreamworks Animation's Jeffrey Katzenberg around the time the second film was in production. The musical is produced by DreamWorks Theatricals (Bill Damaschke, President of DreamWorks Theatricals and Co-President of Production for Dreamworks Animation) and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. (principals Sam Mendes and Caro Newling).

Tickets for SHREK THE MUSICAL go on sale Sunday, October 3 and range in price from $30 - $99. Tickets can be purchased online at shnsf.com, by calling SHN Audience Services at 888 SHN 1799 (888 746 1799) or by visiting the Orpheum Theatre Box Office (1192 Market at 8th St., Mon-Sat 10 AM - 6 PM). For information on Groups of 15 or more, call Group Sales at 888 SHN 1799.

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