Shrek may have been a multitalented ogre -- he rescued a princess, grossed hundreds of millions of dollars for DreamWorks, and won the first-ever Best Animated Feature Oscar -- but can he sing and dance? The studio seems to think so; Broadway.com reports that DreamWorks plans to emulate rival Disney and turn the 2001 animated movie into a Broadway musical. It's not known who would write or compose the stage Shrek-tacular, but the website reports that Sam Mendes, who directed the Tony-winning revival of ''Cabaret'' before shooting such movies as ''American Beauty'' and ''Road to Perdition,'' is the likely director of the production, which would raise the curtain in 2005.
A ''Shrek'' musical would be following a well-trod path from Toontown to Times Square. Disney has raked in a lot of dollars and Tonys with its long-running Broadway versions of ''Beauty and the Beast'' and ''The Lion King.'' Warner Bros. is planning a Broadway musical of ''Batman,'' also for 2005, with Tim Burton, who shot the two Caped Crusader movies that starred Michael Keaton, signed to direct.
Meanwhile, DreamWorks is preparing ''Shrek 2'' for a multiplex release date of June 2004, with Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy reprising their voice roles. Mendes is scheduled to direct the Broadway revival of ''Gypsy,'' starring Bernadette Peters, in spring 2003.
When contacted by EW.com, a DreamWorks spokesperson could neither confirm nor deny that the ''Shrek'' musical was going forward, and Mendes' reps could not confirm or deny by press time whether he would direct it. Let's hope the fairy tale does make it to the stage, since we can't wait for such show-stopping numbers as ''Somewhere Ogre the Rainbow,'' ''Fiona Clear Day,'' and ''Hello, Donkey.''
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