Christopher Sieber
has a favor to ask of his fans: No more questions about his knees. Please?
“Seriously, my knees are fine,” Sieber laughed, “Everything
else on my body hurts right now. But my knees are great.”
Of course, it’s easy to understand why friends, family,
even perfect strangers would continually quiz this Tony nominee about those
parts of his body. Given that – eight performances a week – this 6-foot-2 actor
is singing & dancing on his knees at the Broadway Theatre. Playing that
teeny tiny tyrant, Lord Farquaad, in “Shrek The Musical.”
“I actually helped invent the rig that I wear in the show,”
Christopher explained. “It’s basically two kneepads that have been sewn
together which are made out of this rubber shock absorber material. So my knees
really are fine. It’s the way I have to hold myself while performing on my
knees that’s now causing me problems in my upper mid back.”
Christopher Sieber
Mind you, Sieber knew from the very moment that director
Jason Moore called him and then asked Christopher to take part in an early
reading of “Shrek The Musical” that Farquaad was going to be a real challenge.
“This was about three years ago,” Sieber remembered. “And
they only had five songs and half an act written at that point. And Lord
Farquaad’s song was this Burt Bachrach / Tom Jones-y thing that eventually got cut
out of the show. But even then the material showed so much promise. You just
knew that there was a great musical in there somewhere.”
But even back then, one of the real challenges that the “Shrek
The Musical” production team faced was how to translate Lord Farquaad to the
stage. How to take that diminutive dictator from the Academy Award-winning
animated feature and then translate this cartoon character into someone that a
real live actor could portray in a Broadway musical.
“Back then, we talked about trap doors and trenches that
would be hidden in the stage,” Christopher continued. “But in the end, the idea
of a full-sized actor playing Farquaad on his knees is what helped make that
part funny. Which is why I pushed for that being the way this role would be
played.”
Photo by Joan Marcus. Copyright 2008 DreamWorks Theatrical. All Rights Reserved
Tim Hatley (who took home a Tony earlier this week for his
clever costumes for “Shrek The Musical”) came up with an outfit that would help
hide Sieber’s extremely long legs. The only problem is – when Christopher’s
wearing this cape-and-crown combo, he takes up six square feet of surface.
“Which is why – when I’m in costume for the second act and I’m
not actually out on stage yet – the stage crew keeps me stashed in a corner,
facing a backstage wall,” Sieber said. “This is why I tell people that I’m the
loneliest actor on Broadway.”
Now once Chistopher gets out of that corner and finally faces
the audiences at the Broadway Theatre, it’s a whole ‘nother story. Sieber steals
virtually every scene that he’s in. Thanks – in large part – to his unique take
on this miniature monarch.
“My version of Lord Farquaad is kind of a mix of John
Lithgow (i.e. the Tony Award winner who originally voiced this cartoon
character), Kelsey Grammer and Hannibal Lector,” Sieber stated. “And what’s great about playing this character is that there’s no such thing as playing this part too broadly. I find that I can get away with virtually
anything as long as I then shoot the audience an ‘Ooh, aren’t I naughty?’
glance.”
(L to R) Brian D’arcy James & Christoper Sieber in “Shrek The Musical” at the Broadway Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus. Copyright 2009 DreamWorks Theatrical. All Rights Reserved
One aspect of playing Farquaad that Christopher really
enjoys is the opportunity he’s been given to try & trip up his co-stars.
“There’s a couple of spots in the script where the folks
from DreamWorks Theatrical have told me that it’s okay if I ad-lib. Change the
name of a drink or of Lord Farquaad’s horse if this new line will still get a
laugh out of the audience,” Sieber went on. “Of course, the best part of doing
this is to watching Sutton (Foster) or
Brian (D’Arcy James) suppress a smile, try not to break up onstage.”
It’s not every producer that would allow an actor this
amount of freedom. But Christopher had nothing but high praise for DreamWorks
Theatrical.
“Right from the get-go, these guys were all about making a
good show better,” Sieber said. “Sure, they worked us hard. We were rehearsing
new scenes & blocking for ‘Shrek The Musical’ right up until two days
before we opened. Their main goal wasn’t just to recreate “Shrek” the movie
onstage. They wanted us to turn this material into a real Broadway musical.”
Photo by Joan Marcus. Copyright 2009 DreamWorks Theatrical. All Rights Reserved
And judging by the strong response that “Shrek The Musical’
receives most nights at the Broadway Theatre, it would appear that the team
from DreamWorks Theatrical achieved their goal.
And as for Mr. Sieber … While he will admits that he can’t go
on playing Lord Farquaad forever, Christopher is reluctant to hand this plum of
a part over to another actor. To date, the longest that he’s been out of “Shrek
The Musical” is two days in a row.
“It’s like you’ve just bought this shiny new car and you don’t
want anyone else to drive it,” Sieber concluded. “As long as my body holds out –
Again, my knees are fine. It’s my upper mid back that’s kind of a mess right
now – I’d love to keep playing this wonderfully likably evil character. “
“Shrek the Musical” continues at NYC’s Broadway Theatre on
53rd Street. For information on DreamWorks Theatrical’s SHREKcation
(which includes discounted tickets to this musical as well as coupons which
will get you special offers at various restaurants, museums & attractions
in the city), please click on this link.Photo by Joan Marcus. Copyright 2009 DreamWorks Theatrical. All Rights Reserved