News
The Prince of Wales attends a Royal Gala showing of Shrek the Musical in aid of The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts
8th June 2011
The Prince of Wales shook hands with an ogre tonight when he attended a special performance of Shrek The Musical.
His Royal Highness met the stars of the West End show including Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, who plays the fiery Princess Fiona, and Nigel Lindsay, who takes on the role of the grouchy Scottish ogre Shrek.
Lindsay - who is better known for his more serious roles - told The Prince he spends nearly an hour and a half in make up every night creating his gruff appearance.
The huge padded outfit which he dons on stage every night makes him extremely hot, he said. The actor also thanked The Prince for a grant he received 20 years ago from The Prince's Trust which enabled him to go to drama school and become an actor.
When The Prince arrived at London's Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, he was also introduced to comedian Jack Black.
Black, who stars in animation film Kung Fu Panda, admitted he was nervous before he met The Prince.
"I don't know how to behave," he told reporters. He said it was the first time he had met a royal.
"Unless there was one incognito who came backstage at a Tenacious D concert," he joked.
The Prince attended the Royal Gala Performance with his god-children Princess Maria Olympia of Greece, 14, and Rowan Brudenell, 10.
The musical is based on the Oscar-winning film which saw the fourth instalment - Shrek Forever After - released last year.
The West End show focuses on the story from the first film. Evil Lord Farquaad exiles fairy tale characters from his city and they all end up on the doorstep of loner ogre Shrek.
In a bid to free his swamp of the fairytale folk, the ogre is forced to face the world with his unlikely sidekick Donkey.
Along the way, in classic fairytale fashion, he falls in love with Princess Fiona.
The special fundraising performance was held in aid of The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts - a charity which has The Prince as its President and uses the arts to transform the lives of disadvantaged children.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive of DreamWorks Animation SKG, the company behind Shrek, hosted the evening.
Mr Katzenberg said: "I think it is important that children have access to the arts. Art is very much what defines a generation. Encouraging kids to be artistic and to express themselves in all forms of art, but especially in theatre, is a wonderful thing.
"I think this is a fantastic charity and we're thrilled to be part of it tonight."
The event marks the start of a collaboration between his firm and Children and the Arts.
The cast, creative team and producers of the musical will be working with the charity to jointly develop an educational project to introduce young people to the art of musical theatre and to encourage their involvement in all aspects of production.
The show officially opens to the public next week.
After the performance, The Prince took to the stage to meet the members of the cast and wish them luck for the opening night on Tuesday.
He met comic Richard Blackwood who plays Shrek's loveable but risque sidekick Donkey.
Blackwood told The Prince the heat from his animal suit, which was complete with hooves and a tail, meant he was "losing weight as we speak".
Blackwood then told reporters: "I wear the suit for two and a half hours and I have got to run around in it as well.
"If you want to do a cardio DVD, you should do one wearing the Donkey suit."
The Prince also met former Eastender Nigel Harman, who acts his role as Lord Farquaard on his knees for almost the entire production.