Could Naphtali Yaakov Curry have picked a worse year to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre than 2020? That’s debatable.
Thankfully, his career has taken off after a COVID-delayed start and Curry will be in Springfield March 19-21 playing Donkey in the touring production of “Shrek the Musical” at Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.
“My first two years, nothing much happened,” Curry said by phone from Lincoln, Nebraska. “It started to shift in 2022. That’s when I had my first professional show and it’s been up from there.”
Reimagining the Broadway show 15 years later
This is a special production of “Shrek the Musical,” which debuted on Broadway 15 years ago. David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori worked on that production together, and other shows since, and have teamed up to reimagine “Shrek.” If you’ve seen “Shrek the Musical” in the past, this version will look different.
“We wanted to reinvestigate it,” Lindsay-Abaire said in a promotional video. He did the book and lyrics for the show. “We thought, oh, here’s an opportunity (to take another stab at it) and we know how to collaborate better now that we’ve worked together for 15 years and really return to that thing that got us excited in the first place, which was that giant heart, that character that saw himself one way and then the world told him he was something else and he had to learn, ‘No, I deserve love and friendship and adventure.’”
Tesori is responsible for the show’s music. She drew inspiration for this reimagined “Shrek” from youth productions of the show.
“In one of the productions they had a group of kids singing a lot of the material and I went back to David and said, ‘I saw a version of “Shrek” today that I think, if we ever re-think it, that we should use our ensemble of people a lot more so they can populate this world so that when Shrek is alone, he’s really alone,” Tesori said in the promotional video. “But when there are a lot of people around, there are a lot of people around at all times, making sure the stage is full and charming and vibrant and colorful.”
Curry hopes to bring ‘light, laughter and love' to Donkey in his own way
Curry helps provide that charm, vibrancy and color as Donkey, Shrek’s companion on the journey to Duloc. It’s a character that was made famous in the movies by legendary comedian Eddie Murphy. That role earned Murphy a BAFTA Award nomination for voice-over performance, the first ever for an actor. Curry, in his first national tour, is excited to play the role.
“My Donkey is my own, but Eddie Murphy is a talent and he put this role on the map,” Curry said. “I’m very excited to show my own version of Donkey and I hope the audiences experiencing this story for the first time or re-experiencing it will be able to fall in love with the character just as much as I did growing up.”
Making this character his own is very important to Curry. He believes actors must put some of themselves into everything they do.
“I think that’s why, for example, Eddie Murphy’s (Donkey) was just so brilliantly done because he still put some of himself in it,” Curry said. “I did purposely want to stay away from mimicking because I think that defeats the purpose and limits the role. I did try to stay away from that and bring in that same element of light, laughter and love that the character Donkey has, but do it in a way that Naphtali would do it.”
Curry’s favorite number in “Shrek the Musical” is “Make A Move” in Act II. He said it allows him to be a little freer on stage.
“That’s a moment that Donkey’s feeling himself and it feels good.”
‘Shrek' is a cultural phenomenon
It also feels good to participate in the cultural phenomenon that is “Shrek.” The New York Times called the original film “a beloved, offbeat fairy tale whose characters and jokes continue to permeate pop culture, reaching another generation of fans.”
“I can’t tell you the first time I watched it because I was dang near a baby, but ‘Shrek’ has been in my life forever and I still watch it to this day,” Curry said. “It’s one of my feel-good movies. It’s kind of like a full-circle moment because ‘Shrek’ is a movie that helped raise me and now I’m helping tell that exact same story.”
That first film, released in 2001, was loosely based on a children’s picture book of the same name by William Steig. Then came the sequels: “Shrek 2” (2004), “Shrek the Third” (2007) and “Shrek Forever After” (2010). Those cartoons launched spin-off films based on the Puss in Boots character.
Speaking of spin-offs, there were also holiday-themed short films “Shrek the Halls” (2007) and “Scared Shrekless” (2010).
“Shrek the Musical” opened on Broadway in December 2008 and went on tour in 2010. A digital version of that production was made available on Netflix beginning in December 2013. There are Shrek memes and even — yes, this is real — Shrek-themed raves. Shrek even has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
A fairy tale that ‘regular people' can relate to
The “Shrek” films have always had all-star casts, with actors like Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow working alongside Murphy. It’s the story, though, that has given “Shrek” staying power.
“‘Shrek’ is just a timeless tale,” Danny Mefford, the director and choreographer for this touring production said in the promotional video. “It’s a classic. It’s sort of a new classic that we’re lucky enough to get to re-imagine and re-look at with this tour and I’m super excited about it.”
Curry, meanwhile, said he thinks “Shrek” has remained popular is because audiences still get the escapism of a fairy tale, but told in a way that isn’t all “lollipops and gumdrops.”
“It has a more real feel to it while also allowing you to still escape,” he said. “Because it’s not the perfect Prince Charming and perfect princess story, it allows us as regular people to relate to it a little more.”
Ready for life on the road
Curry, like Donkey, is setting off on a long and unsure journey. As this is his national tour debut, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but that’s part of the fun.
“This is all very new to me, just being on the road, trying to adjust (to) living out of a suitcase and figuring out, ‘OK, so now I have to do laundry here.’ It’s a lot to adjust to.”
Curry was born and raised in Chicago, where he attended the Chicago High School for the Arts. He attend the University of Arizona, in Tucson, before moving back to the Windy City to launch his career.
“I always did theater camps growing up, but I only did it for fun as a kid,” Curry said. “It wasn’t until high school that I decided that’s what I wanted to do for my life. I majored in musical theater and the minute I went to high school I was like, ‘I know this is the path for me.’”
That path led him to audition for “Shrek the Musical” and he’s ready to be on the road, enjoying this full-circle moment in front of real audiences.
“I’m ready for people to experience this new version,” Curry said. “I don’t think theater pieces should ever be done the exact same way as it was done before. I’m very excited for people to see the new version. Any time I go see a show and I’ve seen it before, I want to go into it and see something new. I’m very excited for people to experience the same story in a different way.”
Want to go?
What: “Shrek the Musical”
When: March 19-21, 7:30 p.m. all three nights
Where: Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, ADDRESS
Tickets: $29-$75, available at the Hammons Hall box office, online at the Hammons Hall website, or by calling (417) 836-7678
For more information: Visit the Hammons Hall website or follow them on Facebook. See the cast list, tour dates and more at the “Shrek the Musical” website
