Diablo Theatre Company to Present Bay Area Premiere of SHREK, 9/6-28

Everyone's favorite upside-down fairytale comes to Walnut Creek when Diablo Theatre Company presents the Bay Area premiere of 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 its 54th season, DTC 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 fromJeanine 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 DTC'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. Below are show times:

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.

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