Shrek: The Musical: Brian d'Arcy James as Shrek Chester Gregory II as Donkey and John Tartaglia as Pinocchio.

DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. have announced that Shrek: The Musical will will star Tony Award nominee Brian d'Arcy James as Shrek, Chester Gregory II as Donkey and Tony Award nominee John Tartaglia as Pinocchio.

These actors will be joined on stage by previously announced cast members Tony Award winner Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona, Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad and Kecia Lewis-Evans as The Dragon.

Additional casting will be announced soon.

Shrek: The Musical will open at the Broadway Theatre on 14 Dec 2008, following previews from 8 Nov 2008.

The musical is to play an exclusive world premiere engagement at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, 14 Aug to 21 Sep 2008, prior to it's Broadway opening.

An entirely new musical based on the story and characters from William Steig�s book Shrek, as well as the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek, the first chapter of the Shrek movie series.

Shrek features a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner, David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), music by Jeanine Tesori (Olivier Award-winner for Caroline, or Change and three-time Tony Award nominee).

Shrek will be directed by Jason Moore, who staged the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Avenue Q, and be choreographed by newcomer Josh Prince.

Set and costume design by Tim Hatley and lighting by Hugh Vanstone.

Dreamwork Animations have released three box-office hit animation movies based on William Steig children's book written in 1990, about a young ogre who finds the ogre of his dreams when he leaves home to see the world. The name 'Shrek' is taken from the German and Yiddish word "Schreck"/"Shreck", meaning "fear, terror".

Shrek will be Dreamwork Animations's first theatrical production. The production was initiated by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation, and Sam Mendes, who has a long-term relationship with DreamWorks. Mendes, a big fan of the first Shrek film, suggested the idea of creating a musical to DreamWorks� Jeffrey Katzenberg around the time the second film was in production.

The musical is being produced by DreamWorks Theatricals (Bill Damaschke, President) and Neal Street Productions, Ltd (principals Sam Mendes and Caro Newling).

Brian d'Arcy James last appeared on Broadway in 'The Apple Tree' (2006 revival). He was nominated for a Tony for a Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as 'Sidney' in 'Sweet Smell of Success' (2002). His other Broadway credits include: 'The Lieutenant of Inishmore' (2006), 'Titanic' (1997), 'Carousel' (1994 revival) and 'Blood Brothers' (1993). He was recently seen off-Broadway in Second Stage Theatre's production of Next to Normal, which closed on 16 Mar 2008.

Chester Gregory II can currently be seen on Broadway playing 'Dupree' in the musical Cry-Baby. His other Broadway credits include 'Tarzan' (2006) and 'Hairspray' (2002).

John Tartaglia was nominated for a Tony award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as 'Rod' in the Broadway musical Avenue Q, his other Broadway credit was in the Disney musical 'Beauty and the Beast' (1994).