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Q&A: Alum talks role as musical director of mythical creatures in ‘Shrek the Musical’

(Andrea Grigsby/Daily Bruin contributor)

Shrek The Musical

Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

Oct. 19 - Sunday

Prices vary

By Raunak Devjani

Oct. 25, 2018 11:48 p.m.

In case anyone was wondering, Far Far Away isn’t actually that far away. It’s about an hour’s drive from campus, located in Thousand Oaks, California, to be specific.

Presented by 5-Star Theatricals as their season’s opening show, “Shrek the Musical” has been running at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza since Oct. 19, and will close Sunday. With musical direction by UCLA alumnus Dan Redfeld, the show brings to life the ogre duo of Shrek and Fiona, along with their mythical companions including Gingy the gingerbread man and Donkey’s love interest, Dragon.

Redfeld spoke to the Daily Bruin’s Raunak Devjani about the show’s iconic characters, his preparatory work and some of his favorite musical numbers.

Daily Bruin: “Shrek the Musical” already exists. Did your rendition stick to the famously staged Broadway one, or did you try to switch things up?

Dan Redfeld: The version that we have is based on the London version, so the score matches that. But there were things that were done very, very differently in London. They had a dragon that actually flew through the air, and the beginning is different. So we kind of modified our version to kind of mimic and go back to the Broadway version. … So it’s kind of a hybrid between the two.

DB: What were some of the hardest parts of your job?

DR: What’s hard on this score, unlike the last couple of shows I’ve done, is that (it requires classical music) in a couple of numbers. But you have to have a gospel sound and a Motown sound as well. The blind mice have to have the Sounds of the Supremes (influence). So it’s really all these different styles of singing within the ensemble, and that made it very difficult because I had to decide what the sound (should be) like. You’re dealing with a young cast. Some of them don’t know those references or what the music is referencing, so you have to go and explain that to them. … I have to rely on my knowledge of pop music as well as classical music, so this is a trickier show that way, in terms of the kind of sound I wanted to achieve.

DB: What were some of your favorite songs to direct?

DR: I think “Forever,” the new Dragon song, is pretty amazing. It has such a cool drive to it and I love the middle because it literally shifts gears and has such a different feel for Donkey. … And I really love “I Know It’s Today,” which (is the one) that Fiona sings, which kind of has a Joni Mitchell feel to it, and it’s just a really neat tune.

DB: Characters in the play have some form of interaction with sets and props. Did this affect your musical direction at all?

DR: There were some things that were cool that I couldn’t envision in the room. When Gingy first appears, there’s music for that. … I was kind of envisioning (the puppet) but I didn’t really know what it looks like. And so when I finally saw it, I was like, “Oh, so now I know what to do with the music” because they pull a sheet off the puppet. You see it sitting there and it’s a big reveal. Once I saw it, I was like, “Oh, I can do this musically and slow the orchestra down and make it even more ridiculous and over the top.” … It’s got this horror-sounding music, in that moment, and when you slow it down it becomes kind of ridiculous and silly and accentuates the moment and makes the audience laugh. … Sometimes you don’t see things (beforehand) but you see them once they’re on stage. Once you’re in contact with them you can slow down or speed up the orchestra or ask for things that make the moment more alive on stage.

DB: Shrek isn’t a particularly musical character in the film. What was it like, getting him to sing and dance on stage?

DR: (The actor, Trent Mills) was lovely. He just came in and he knew what to do. It’s a neat experience watching them. At the beginning of our process, we’re kind of all finding our way. I do a lot of preparation work in terms of figuring out when my cutoffs are going to be for the ensemble and this and that, things I’m going to have the lead actor do. But I don’t do much else because you don’t want to overthink until you work with the actor. In (Mills’) case, we sat down and talked through stuff when we were working at the piano together and he would say, “Can I have more time here?” or “I like this” and “I like that.”… And it’s a neat process of collaboration, going back-and-forth.

And then watching (the actors) as they interact with each other as a cast – you watch (Mills) and there’s this really great scene where he takes his helmet off for Fiona, and it’s gotten funnier and funnier over the last few weeks. The way the makeup goes on, the way he uses his face in that moment – it’s so funny and it’s gotten a huge laugh every night. That wasn’t there in the beginning of the process. It’s more of something he discovered. … There’s this song called “Build A Wall,” where (Shrek) yells at Donkey and sends Donkey off after Fiona has taken off with (Lord Farquaad). (Shrek) has a ballad that is all his own about how he’s going to build a wall around himself, confine himself and no more interact with people because it’s always disappointment. … And in the middle of it, he reaches this penultimate thing and stops. And you can tell it’s because it’s about (Fiona), and he’s in love with her. He stops and looks like he’s going to start crying, and sings out again, even more determined, “I’m gonna build a wall.” And it’s great because the pause is actually quite effective and it’s not in the original Broadway version.

DB: Did you have different preparatory processes for different characters?

DR: No, I don’t usually think about that in advance with lead actors. I do that with the ensemble, because the ensemble sound is the kind of sound I master. … When you work with leads, it’s intimate and it’s a really different way of working. You work at the piano together, you talk it through, the director is often there and we talk about the lyrics. I’m really big about the lyrics. I’m adamant that that’s the most important thing. A song, to me, is a slowed-down monologue because there are notes attached to it. … The lyric is the storytelling device and you’re communicating an idea. Music is completely emotional. It’s the weirdest of the arts. It’s not something we can actually touch or conceptually grab – it’s pure emotion.

So with the lyrics, I’m really adamant. You can have the most beautiful tune in the world with a stupid lyric on it. If the lyric is unintelligible, you can get some of the idea emotionally across (with the music). But it’s not about having to sing everything pitch-perfect, or having the rhythm perfect. It’s about how that lyric is delivered. … It may be actually more powerful than actually what’s written, in terms of thought, on the page.

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Raunak Devjani
Devjani is the top editor of the Arts and Entertainment section. She was previously the assistant editor for the Theater Film and Television beat.
Devjani is the top editor of the Arts and Entertainment section. She was previously the assistant editor for the Theater Film and Television beat.
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