Ahhh, Gingy. For such a small cookie, he sure is a SHREK icon!
Say it with me now: “NO!! NOT MY GUMDROP BUTTONS!”
(Admit it. You just said that in your best falsetto voice. Don’t be proud. You know you did.)
When the prospect of designing this show came around, Gingy was my very first sketch. He seems pretty simple on the surface, right? Who hasn’t seen a gingerbread man shape before? Believe it or not though, this basic design was the source of my first production challenge.
Without getting into too much “legal stuff”, when you pay for the rights to perform a show, certain things are included in the license. You get the script, the score… but not necessarily the likeness of the characters. For example, when Disney first licensed “Beauty and the Beast” for amateur performance, they explicitly stated that Belle couldn’t wear a yellow ball gown in the show. It was iconic, instantly identified with the character… but forbidden.
Hrm. REALLY?
Welp, while annoying, rules are rules and they must be respected.
For this show, things were… interesting. Dreamworks Theatrical has only juuuuust released the rights and, as SHREK is their only “boat in the water” so to speak, I wasn’t sure how strict they were going to be. To be on the safe side however, I started thinking of alternative “looks” for the little guy. A purple gingerbread man?… you laugh. I prepared myself for that possibility.
PICTURED:
Artist’s nightmare Photoshopping from The Land of “What Copyright Almost Begot!”
NOT PICTURED:
Artist softly weeping & slowly rocking in the corner if this had come to pass.
Suitable for dancing… or maybe just casually leaning on. (Afterall, the little guy *did* suffer quite a lower leg injury at the cruel hands of Lord Farquaad!)
So the next logical thing to do… is show him in action, right?
Absolutely! … well, once Gingy has connected with his Sugar Plum Fairy (Jenni Joy Nicolella). Let’s let those two wacky kids bond a little bit and then we’ll have them sit down for a proper interview!
