Faye's Shrek Questions - Part 5

Before Faye bids a fond farewell to the Shrek Tour fairytale gang at the end of the month I thought I should feature the fifth and final part of the Shrek questions she recently answered for the blog..

Here Faye tells us about a technical hitch that left her stranded in mid-air, how she transforms into Princess Fiona and why people of all ages love the show.


Shrek Question #13
Can you describe the transformation from Faye Brookes to Princess Fiona? How long does it take? Do you have any help?

Faye's Answer
It only really takes about 20 minutes to become Princess Fiona.

Obviously I get a little help from our amazing wig department. They prep my hair and dress me in the infamous red wig, and no Princess would be complete without her crown. 

I do my own make up for the show which is very dramatic, dark eyes, heavy eyeliner, lots of gold glitter and of course her signature classic red lipstick.

Faye is not just a supremely talented actress but a very beautiful one too. I guess that's fairly important when you're playing a fairytale Princess and probably helps keeps the transformation time down to a minimum.


Shrek Question #14
I think I read that the curtain came down early once while you were in Oxford. Do you remember what happened and have there been any other technical issues?

Faye's Answer
We have a whole new team of people learning the show wherever we go with Shrek, new crew, new dressers, new children, so there's bound to be a few technical hitches every now and again. 

The worst one for me had to be right at the end of the show, after I had gone through the transformation and I was mid-air, mid-spell and the seat stopped moving; I was stuck! 

Dean: "Fiona are you alright?" 
I reply... "... NO!" 

We then had an abrupt 'Show Stop' Dean had to lift me down off the chair, the crew quickly reset the stage and we then went onto finish the show!

I've been to see the show 14 times and the only real technical hitch I can remember was when Princess Fiona's flowers failed to come up during Morning Person.

I'd have quite liked to be at the show when Faye got stuck in mid-air. I had to laugh at her response when Dean asked her if she was alright, NO :)


Shrek Question #15
You and the show have received dazzling reviews at every venue. What do you think makes Shrek the Musical so special and has it surprised you that it’s loved by people of all ages?

Faye's Answer
It's the perfect fairy tale, where everyone gets their happy ending. 

Not only do you get to be entertained by creatures larger than life but it has the most wonderful message full of heart. A true love story with a twist. 

We're so lucky to have the music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and I am so grateful to be surrounded by such a talented group of people. They make me so proud to be apart of this company.

Shrek was one of those shows that I came close to seeing in London on a number of occasions but for one reason or another it never actually happened.

I'm therefore very grateful they cast Faye as the slightly bi-polar Princess because I loved every minute of my time in the swamp.