Shrek Musical Announces Creative Team, '08 Debut Potential

SHREK: THE MUSICAL, a new Broadway-bound musical, with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Jason Moore, is in development.

Tony Award-nominees Tim Hatley (sets and costumes) and Hugh Vanstone (lighting) have joined the SHREK: THE MUSICAL creative team.

Produced by Dreamworks Animation and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. (principals Sam Mendes and Caro Newling), the SHREK: THE MUSICAL team has been working on developmental readings of the musical and are planning a production schedule working towards a debut for the musical as early as 2008.

Composer Jeanine Tesori wrote the scores for the Broadway productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Caroline, Or Change, which will be seen at The National Theatre in London this fall. She also composed the score to The Public Theatre's production of Mother Courage starring Meryl Streep which played in Central Park this summer.

David Lindsay-Abaire is the author of numerous acclaimed plays, including Wonder of the World and Rabbit Hole. This fall, his musical High Fidelity will open on Broadway.

Jason Moore is the director of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Avenue Q.

Bill Damaschke, Head of Creative Production and Development for Dreamworks Animation, is overseeing the development of the musical on the studio side.

Based on a children's book by William Steig, the character of Shrek has been featured in two major animated films to date. The first Shrek feature film hit theaters in the Summer of 2001, and went on to win the first-ever Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. In 2004, DreamWorks released a sequel, Shrek 2, which went on to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The studio is now in production on the next chapter of the Shrek story, Shrek the Third, which is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on May 18, 2007.

SHREK: THE MUSICAL is Dreamworks Animation's first venture in legitimate theatre. The production was initiated by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sam Mendes when the studio made a first-look deal with Mendes' producing entity, Neal Street Productions, Ltd.

Dreamworks Animation S.K.G. (NYSE-DWA) is devoted to producing high-quality family entertainment through the use of computer-generated (CG) animation. Utilizing world-class creative talent and state-of-the-art technological capabilities, the company is committed to making two computer-animated feature films a year that appeal to a broad movie-going audience.

Neal Street Productions was established in 2003 by Sam Mendes and Caro Newling following their ten year tenure at the Donmar Warehouse. Co-produced recent West End transfers of Sunday in the Park with George and Mary Stuart. Previous NSP world and UK premieres: Owen McCafferty's new version of JP Miller's Days of Wine and Roses at the Donmar Warehouse; Anna in the Tropics at Hampstead Theatre; David Lindsay-Abaire's Fuddy Meers London's West End. Future projects: new stage versions of Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother and Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be, and the world premiere of David Hare's The Vertical Hour, directed by Mendes, this fall on Broadway. Donmar generated productions on Broadway: multi award-winning Cabaret (dir Mendes), The Real Thing (Tony Award Best Revival), Take Me Out (Tony Award Best New Play), The Blue Room, and Electra. Also Twelfth Night/Uncle Vanya at Brooklyn Academy. NSP films include Mendes' recent film, Jarhead, for Universal Pictures; Starter for Ten, based on the novel by David Nicholls, in association with Playtone for HBO Film/BBC; Stuart: A Life Backwards in association with HBO Film/BBC, and Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro in Things We Lost In The Fire for DreamWorks.