‘Shrek’-fest hits four local theaters; how licensing and timing made multiple ‘Shrek the Musical’ productions possible

“Shrek”-travaganza? “Shrek”-plosion? “Shrek”-apalooza?

Whatever you call it, it’s happening, as four theaters in the region are producing, or have recently produced, “Shrek the Musical.”

Aspire Community Theatre kicked off the “Shrek” fest with a production that opened April 24 and closed May 3.

Everyone’s favorite ogre will again take the stage in the Inland Northwest through productions from Theatre Arts Center at the Lake, Christian Youth Theater Spokane and Spokane Children’s Theatre.

TAC at the Lake’s production opened May 8 and runs through May 24. CYT Spokane’s production opens May 22 and runs through May 31 while Spokane Children’s Theatre’s production opens May 22 and runs through June 7.

But how does something like this happen? Turns out, there are no limits to how many amateur theater groups can license the same title in the same area at the same time.

According to Isabella Morales, amateur licensing representative with Music Theatre International, which holds the license for “Shrek the Musical,” the only time a restriction on the number of theaters producing the same show in the same area would be in place would be if a professional group, or a group that is able to pay its actors a livable wage, secures a license for the show.

“(The professional theater) can set a restriction for a set of dates of their choosing,” she said in an email. “Any application within 100 miles of this group will have to have their application reviewed by someone from the professional group in accordance with an MTI supervisor. This process can take anywhere from two to eight weeks or longer and an approval is not guaranteed.”

So, in short, “Shrek” is fair game for so many theaters because a professional theater in the region is not currently working on its own production.

In CYT Spokane Executive Artistic Director Kristine Lyons’ experience, licensing a show requires registering as a member of Music Theatre International and requesting the show she’s interested in producing.

The application process involves sharing information such as whether the show is equity or nonequity, meaning paid or unpaid, the potential dates of the performances, information about the venue and the age of the performers, among other questions.

After she has submitted her application, Music Theatre International reviews it and sends her an email saying either “Let the show begin” if it’s been approved or a restriction notice if she’s unable to produce the show because of a professional production happening nearby.

“If we wanted to do ‘Mary Poppins’ but it’s on our Best of Broadway tour, which is equity, you would get denied because the equity comes first,” she said.

The rights to produce “Shrek the Musical” were restricted while the show toured around the country, including a stop in Spokane in 2024.

Once that restriction was lifted, Lyons, and any other theater who had expressed interest in producing the show, were notified that the license was available. She imagines Aspire Community Theatre, Theatre Arts Center at the Lake and Spokane Children’s Theatre received the same notice, which likely led to the “Shrek” fest.

CYT Spokane Business Manager Sarah Alba said it can sometimes happen that an area high school will produce a show CYT Spokane has recently closed, but she doesn’t recall a time when four regional theaters had the same show on the marquee.

Lyons and Alba aren’t concerned about the plethora of “Shrek” options in the coming weeks, as they feel like each theater has its own demographic and there is enough support of the arts in the Inland Northwest to go around.

There’s also the fact that each production features a different cast and artistic team, meaning different elements of the show will be emphasized from theater to theater.

“If there’s four different Shreks, they’re playing four different Shreks,” Lyons said. “I think we all put our organization’s touches to it.”

CYT Spokane’s production of “Shrek” is directed by Jessica Belisle, music directed by Jordan Hardy and choreographed by Mikala Lindgren.

The musical follows the tale of Shrek, an ogre who is seemingly always in a bad mood, as he fights to remove the fairytale creatures who have settled on his land after being banned from the Kingdom of Duloc by evil Lord Farquaad.

Along the way, Shrek, reluctantly, makes a friend in the chatty Donkey and even starts to fall for Princess Fiona, who turns out to be hiding a big secret about her true self.

“Shrek the Musical” features music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. It’s based on the 2001 film “Shrek” as well as pieces of “Shrek 2,” “Shrek Forever After” and the novel “Shrek!” by William Steig, which was published in 1990.

Alba said working on “Shrek” has taught the young actors, ages 8 to 18, about comedic timing. As there are so many memorable characters, each actor is also getting a chance to flesh out their character and shine on stage.

“Even though there’s a lot of individual characters, they do a great job of coming together as a full cast and recognizing that every role is important in the show, and they all together are putting this on for the community,” Alba said.

Each CYT Spokane production is for the community but also made by the community, as parents volunteer in every aspect of the production, including costuming and set design.

The parents took the themes “storybook” and “swamp castle” and ran with them, making costumes for classic fairytale characters like the Three Little Pigs and the Three Blind Mice while also creating sets that worked for both Shrek’s swamp and the castle in which Princess Fiona is first introduced.

“When you have that many unique characters, everybody has, one, two, three, four different costumes that they’re wearing throughout the show,” Alba said. “Hair and makeup for a fantasy type show is always a really big undertaking. All of those pieces, props, all the tech work, everything. Our parents are super amazing about the time and effort and professionalism that they put in to make these shows as great as they are.”

No matter where audiences see “Shrek the Musical,” Alba and Lyons hope audiences take home the idea the musical shares: Everybody belongs and everybody is important.

“In theater, we see it a lot, because we all have our different quirks or different things that we bring with us, but this show really reminds us to value all of those things, and those are the things that make us special as humans,” Alba said. “We are accepting people how they are and how they come to us, so it’s a really great opportunity to be reminded of that message right now.”