Community Corner
Diablo Theatre Company Presents "Shrek the Musical"
Everyone’s favorite upside-down fairytale comes to Walnut Creek when Diablo Theatre Company presents Shrek the Musical, a song-and dance-filled stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning DreamWorks animated film. Shrek the Musical opens September 6 and runs through September 28.
For their 54th season, Diablo Theatre Company re-creates the fantasy Kingdom of Far Far Away—with many hilarious, irreverent twists. Instead of a knight riding a noble steed, the hero is Shrek, a swamp-dwelling ogre teamed up with a chatterbox donkey. And the princess? She’s the slightly temperamental Fiona. After Shrek rescues Fiona from a dragon-guarded tower, the two fall in love before she reveals there’s more to her than meets the eye. Other fairytale misfits add surprises: from a Gingerbread Man with an attitude to Three Blind Mice channeling their inner Dreamgirls.
This entertaining, family-friendly show features a terrific score, with 19 songs including “Travel Song” and “I’ve Think I Got You Beat.” The songs come from Jeanine Tesori, who wrote the music, and David Lindsay-Abaire, who wrote the book and lyrics.
Shrek the Musical also draws from a 1990 children’s book by famed New Yorker cartoonist William Steig. Like the first 2001 Shrek film, the musical stays true to Steig’s fractured fairytale vision where dragons are friendly, swamps are better than castles, and the true hero isn’t handsome or noble but a grouchy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside ogre who is more or less content with himself and his life in a swamp.
After Shrek the Musical premiered in 2008, as the most expensive show ever produced on Broadway, it played for more than a year and earned numerous Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations.
For Diablo Theatre Company’s production, Kikau Alvaro directs and choreographs, and Brandon Adams is vocal director. The 22-member cast features well-known Bay Area performers: Jerry Lee as Shrek; Brittany Danielle as Fiona; Alex Alvarez as Donkey; and Chris Vettel as the villain, Lord Farquaad.
Performance schedule is:
Friday, Sept 6 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 7 - 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept 8 - 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept 12 - 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept 13 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 14 – 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept 15 – 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept 19 - 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept 20 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 21 - 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept 22 - 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept 26 - 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept 27 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 28 – 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Conversations with the cast and crew immediately follow the September 8 and September 19 performances.
ABOUT DIABLO THEATRE COMPANY
One of the Bay Area’s premier producers of musical theater, Diablo Theatre Company began modestly in the late 1950s with a small group of fans of musical theater who wanted to produce their favorite Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. Calling themselves the Diablo Light Opera Company, the founders presented shows at Walnut Creek’s old Civic Arts Center, a converted walnut-shelling house. When Walnut Creek opened its state-of-the-arts performing arts venue, the Lesher Center for the Arts, in 1990, DLOC became one of its anchor tenants and began mounting large-scale musical productions in the 785-seat Hofmann Theatre. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the company changed its name to Diablo Theatre Company to better reflect its move away from light operas to Broadway musicals. Today, Diablo Theatre Company continues to enrich and entertain East Bay residents by celebrating contemporary musical works and re-imaging the classics. It also inspires the next generation of theater artists through its acclaimed theater education programs for adults and youth, including its Stars 2000 Teen Theater.
This entertaining, family-friendly show features a terrific score, with 19 songs including “Travel Song” and “I’ve Think I Got You Beat.” The songs come from Jeanine Tesori, who wrote the music, and David Lindsay-Abaire, who wrote the book and lyrics.
Shrek the Musical also draws from a 1990 children’s book by famed New Yorker cartoonist William Steig. Like the first 2001 Shrek film, the musical stays true to Steig’s fractured fairytale vision where dragons are friendly, swamps are better than castles, and the true hero isn’t handsome or noble but a grouchy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside ogre who is more or less content with himself and his life in a swamp.
After Shrek the Musical premiered in 2008, as the most expensive show ever produced on Broadway, it played for more than a year and earned numerous Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations.
For Diablo Theatre Company’s production, Kikau Alvaro directs and choreographs, and Brandon Adams is vocal director. The 22-member cast features well-known Bay Area performers: Jerry Lee as Shrek; Brittany Danielle as Fiona; Alex Alvarez as Donkey; and Chris Vettel as the villain, Lord Farquaad.
Shrek the Musical performs September 6 through September 28 at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.
Tickets are $27.50-$53.00. For tickets, call 925-943-SHOW (7469) or visit www.lesherartscenter.org or www.diablotheatre.org.Performance schedule is:
Friday, Sept 6 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 7 - 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept 8 - 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept 12 - 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept 13 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 14 – 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept 15 – 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept 19 - 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept 20 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 21 - 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept 22 - 2 p.m.
Thursday, Sept 26 - 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept 27 - 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept 28 – 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Conversations with the cast and crew immediately follow the September 8 and September 19 performances.
ABOUT DIABLO THEATRE COMPANY
One of the Bay Area’s premier producers of musical theater, Diablo Theatre Company began modestly in the late 1950s with a small group of fans of musical theater who wanted to produce their favorite Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. Calling themselves the Diablo Light Opera Company, the founders presented shows at Walnut Creek’s old Civic Arts Center, a converted walnut-shelling house. When Walnut Creek opened its state-of-the-arts performing arts venue, the Lesher Center for the Arts, in 1990, DLOC became one of its anchor tenants and began mounting large-scale musical productions in the 785-seat Hofmann Theatre. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the company changed its name to Diablo Theatre Company to better reflect its move away from light operas to Broadway musicals. Today, Diablo Theatre Company continues to enrich and entertain East Bay residents by celebrating contemporary musical works and re-imaging the classics. It also inspires the next generation of theater artists through its acclaimed theater education programs for adults and youth, including its Stars 2000 Teen Theater.
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