‘Shrek the Musical’ Aims to Bring a “Theme Park” Experience to the Newport Stage
Newport World Resorts’ Full House Theater Company (FHTC) is gearing up to transform the Newport Performing Arts Theater (NPAT) into what will hopefully feel like a theme park experience for families in its upcoming production of Shrek the Musical, opening October 31.
At least, that is the dream of director Dexter M. Santos. For him, the goal is simple but ambitious: to make children (and kids at heart) feel like they’ve stepped into a magical world. “My dream is to make it feel like it’s such a theme park for the kids so that it’s very much enjoyable,” he said at the show’s press conference. “When Shrek enters, you know there’s a collective, ‘Oh my god, it’s Shrek.’ For the kids to see the characters one by one… it’s really for them.”
Bigger Stage, Bigger Spectacle
FHTC is staging Shrek in the expansive NPAT (the seating capacity exceeds 1,700), which Santos admits is both a challenge and an opportunity. “If you look at previous productions, parang one half lang ata ‘nung stage. But we’ll have all of the characters we love from the animation and the Broadway musical, the songs we love, the costumes, we got the rights for the actual costumes—executed here by Erin Pineda.”
The creative team also includes associate director Michael Stuart Williams, artistic director Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, assistant director Cara Barredo, and music director Ejay Yatco.
Why Shrek?
For Lauchengco-Yulo, the production is about reconnecting with a family audience. “We haven’t done a children’s sort of musical in a while. Our last one was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [in 2017], and then it was followed with a lot of more or less adult material,” she shared. “So, ushering in Christmas and Halloween, which is really geared for children, we decided to bring back a musical that is good for families. Shrek was the obvious choice.”
She added that variety is central to FHTC’s programming. “We want to produce shows that cater to several markets so we don’t lock ourselves into just one type of performance. We really want to broaden our markets and get everybody into the theater.”
Original and International, Side by Side
With both Delia D—an original Filipino jukebox musical featuring the songs of Jonathan Manalo—and Shrek the Musical being staged in the same year, FHTC’s co-artistic director and Shrek’s associate director Michael Williams confirmed that this is the start of a new trend, especially with four new theaters currently being built by Newport World Resorts.
“It’s part of the vision of Kevin Tan and our administration to create original Filipino productions and also to do international productions,” Williams said. “Don’t forget, we’re opening up four theaters. So hindi lang two talaga. It will eventually become more. And though we are planning to do original Filipino and international productions, we want to be agile and be able to provide our audiences with whatever is current, whatever is interesting.”
He clarified that this does not necessarily mean alternating between the two. “It could be two Filipino productions, or two international productions, depending on the current trend or whatever is interesting at the moment.”
The cast features Jamie Wilson as Shrek, Krystal Kane as Fiona, Topper Fabregas as Donkey, Alfredo Reyes as Lord Farquaad, and Julia Serad as Dragon.
The female ensemble includes Barbara Jance, Brianna Bunagan, Cydel Gabutero, Jannah Baniasia, Julia Santiago, Liway Perez, Ma. Francesca Mata, Meg Ruiz, Miah Canton, Mica Fajardo, Mikaela Regis, and Ring Antonio.
The male ensemble includes Alfritz Blanche, Chesko Rodriguez, Francis Gatmaytan, Franco Ramos, Ian Hermogenes, Jep Go, Jordan Andrews, Juancho Gabriel Escoto, Jules dela Paz, Khalil Tambio, Lord Kristoffer Logmao, Luigi Quesada, Marvin Ong, Noel Rayos, Rapah Manalo, Red Nuestro, and Rofe Villarino.
Alyanna Mikaela Wijangco will serve as the female swing; Noel Rayos will serve as the male swing (fairy folk tracks); and Yaweh Sangalang will also serve as the male swing (dancing tracks). Nicco Dans will be the Shrek cover, Cara Barredo the Fiona cover, Marvin Ong the understudy for Donkey, Stephen Viñas the cover for Lord Farquaad, and Abi Sulit the understudy for Dragon.
Based on the DreamWorks Animation motion picture and the book by William Steig, Shrek the Musical features book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori.
Tickets are available via Ticketworld, the Newport World Resorts Box Office, and Helixpay.
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