Curiocity: Q & A With Shrek's 'Lord Farquaad'

A certain green ogre will soon be appearing on a stage near you.

Yes, the lovable and oh-so-flatulent swamp dweller Shrek will be taking over Orpheum Theatre next week, bringing his crazy bunch of misfits for a live, musical performance.

Shrek The Musical will run from Feb. 1 to 6, retelling the classic new-age fairytale of an ogre, a princess and a land called Far, Far Away -- but this time with musical numbers and dance routines.

One of the biggest stars of the show is also inadvertently the shortest. David F.M. Vaughn plays the "vertically challenged" villain of Far, Far Away, Lord Farquaad. No stranger to the big stage, Vaughn began his Shrek journey as one of the original members of the Broadway production. While he fully admits to being skeptical of a Shrek musical at first, he said it didn't take long for him to fall in love with the show.

I was lucky enough to sneak in a few questions to Vaughn, before he heads to Minneapolis, to find out what it's like playing a character half his size and how he feels about visiting Minnesota in the wintertime.

Curiocity: I'm assuming you're not actually 3-feet-tall. So what's the secret? How do you appear on stage in a perfect Lord Farquaad stature? And is it difficult to walk the Lord Farquaad walk every night, for several hours?

David Vaughn: Yes, you are correct, I am not 3-feet-tall. I'm actually 6-foot-1. And since Lord Farquaad is ... well ..."vertically challenged," I do the entire show on my knees. I sing, dance, run and jump all on my knees. We created something we called, "the rig," which is a series of kneepads, wood blocks, springs and levers that I kneel into, which has the puppet legs attached to it. It weighs about 25 lbs. It does take quite a bit of unique athleticism to do it, but I'm actually very used to it now, it's quite comfortable.

People always ask me at the stage door if my knees hurt, and they surprisingly don't, but my back and hips do take quite a beating. I get physical therapy every week and make sure I keep my body prepared for the task.

Curiocity: How long does it take for your full transformation to Lord Farquaad?

Vaughn: It takes me about 30 minutes to go from blond-haired blue-eyed David Vaughn, to black-haired evil-eyed Lord Farquaad. I take about 10 or so minutes to put my makeup on, 10 minutes to get my wig and microphone on, and about 10 minutes to put on the rig and costume.

That doesn't include the 15 minutes I spend stretching before each show, which is my most important preparation. The transformation is pretty crazy I must say -- as almost every aspect of myself is changed. My hair, face, stature, voice, etc., all are different. I'm never recognized out of costume. The makeup design alters my facial structure as well. All together, it's two completely different people.

Curiocity: Were you a fan of the Shrek films? What were your reactions to hearing that it was being turned into a musical?

Vaughn: I was a fan of the films. I loved the Shrek series, and saw all of them in the theatres. To be honest, when I heard Shrek was being translated into a musical, I rolled my eyes a bit. It was a very popular thing to transfer movies to the stage, and I was a little tired of all the new musicals being translations, instead of original ideas.

But on the very first day of rehearsals, when we read through the script, my mind did a 180 and I realized that this was a totally new and original take on the story of Shrek, and I was more impressed than I could have ever imagined.

Curiocity: Do you enjoy playing the villain? How do audiences -- especially children -- respond to your performance? To the show?

Vaughn: Ask any actor that question and generally they will say; absolutely. Playing the villain is always more fun because we can get away with much more. I play Farquaad as more of a brat than naturally evil, and with a foppish flare, so the audiences generally laugh and are on board with me, even though I am technically playing the protagonist. (Though, one could argue that this is a "man vs. the world" kind of show.)

Every once in a while, some kids will yell from the audience when I do something especially ridiculous. I remember at one performance, after Shrek sings a very sweet ballad, I scream "Boooooo!" The audience laughed, then out of the silence that followed was the voice a little boy screaming, "GO AWAY FARQUAAD!" It took all I had to not break down laughing. What a brave kid!

Curiocity: Have you been to Minneapolis before? Is there anything you're looking forward to doing while you're here?

Vaughn: I have never been to Minneapolis before, which is strange as this is my fifth tour. But I was at the doctor's office (Thursday), and the receptionist told me to go to Cossetta's in St. Paul and order the sausage pizza mostaccioli, because he's from the area. Is that place good? I sometimes get weird recommendations.

Curiocity: Oh yes. Great recommendation. Can't go wrong at Cossetta's. Also, and perhaps most importantly, will you be able to handle the cold while you're here?

Vaughn: Heck yes! I was born in Virginia, lived there until I was nine (just long enough to fall in love with snow), then moved to Florida and was raised there. In one fell swoop, snow was taken away from me. I'll never forgive my parents for that. So I've always had this love for cold weather ever since, partly because of the nostalgic aspect of it. I'm one of those weird people who prefer the cold to the heat. I'm quite strange.

Curiocity: Haha, not strange but I can't say I agree. So, I was perusing through your website, and noticed a photo titled "A rough Act 1 on Broadway." What exactly is happening in this photo? You look like you're holding an ice pack on your face and ankle?

Vaughn: My body hurts just thinking about it. Long story short, I was on for Peter Pan that day (I was a swing in the Broadway production), and was given the wrong costume in a quick change (I was literally BURSTING out of the seams), rolled my ankle in a dance number, then at the end of another dance number, I have to run fast off stage into the pitch black, and normally it's fine, but there was a stagehand who was confused and thought he had a cue, so he was running toward me in the dark, and BAM!, we slammed into each other.

Cue a giant knot on my head, my nose immediately started gushing blood, and I'm pretty sure I started screaming obscenities at the unfairness of it all. The picture you see is me, in my underwear in all my glory, icing my face, icing my ankle and tissue stuck in my nose to stop the blood. All the while preparing for the big tap dance at the top of act 2.

Curiocity: Wow. Hopefully you won't have a repeat anytime soon, especially in your Lord Farquaad rig. Speaking of, what is it like being a part of this Shrek cast? How do you guys keep the energy going night after night?

Vaughn: I joined the Shrek company in June of 2008, before the Seattle production, and prior to us coming to Broadway, so it'll be three years this June. I've had the time of my life, but also have worked harder than any other show I've been in. The show is such a ball to do, as it's wild, crazy, colorful, upbeat, and fun. But it's also (much like the movies) very current and modern. Thus, some of the lines are fluid, and we keep them up-to-date with what's happening politically and locally in the world.

It keeps it fresh and fun. It also helps that we're all a bunch of fools who make each other laugh daily.

Shrek The Musical runs Feb. 1-6 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Tickets range from $28 to $78 and are available for purchase by clicking here.

Sara Boyd is a web producer and columnist at WCCO.COM.