Australian director brings Broadway musical to Vietnamese audience

The Broadway-standard musical Shrek will be performed in HCM City and Hanoi in July and August as part of the Shrek: On National Tour project, produced by The YOUniverse under the creative ecosystem Pacific Ocean Partners Group, based in Australia.

Shrek is a family musical that helps parents and children connect and feel the emotional impact of the show's meaningful messages together. This year, Shrek, Fiona, and their friends are coming to HCM City for the first time.

On this occasion, Australian director Jesse Donaldson Jarrett talks to The Hanoi Times about this piece of art. He is responsible for directing the production, overseeing rehearsals, and ensuring the quality of the actors' performances and singing

Actors rehearse for Shrek: On National Tour. Photo: Ngo Minh/The Hanoi Times

What are your thoughts on Vietnamese young people being allowed to work on the 2024 Shrek musical?

Throughout my time here, I have been continually impressed by the young talent in Vietnam. More than the raw talent, I have been humbled by the sheer enthusiasm for the work and the sheer willingness to learn that I have seen from some of the people here. Everyone has come to these projects out of a love for the art form, which has helped them overcome many of the challenges that come with performing theater, especially musical theater.

I think the young people we have performing in Shrek are wonderful. It is a very new experience and honestly a challenging one. I would always encourage young people to take on challenging situations in order to grow, and that is what I have seen in our cast.

I feel very fortunate to be working with them and look forward to seeing their growth in future projects.

What challenges have you faced during the production process of the musical Shrek and how did you overcome them?

Shrek as a show has a difficult balance between comedy and drama. As an adaptation of the movie Shrek, which is a meta-comedy that pokes fun at the famous Disney fairy tale adaptations, Shrek the Musical is a comedy that parodies big Broadway musicals. Like any comedy, it only works if the characters take everything seriously. The comedy works because the characters believe they are in a drama. So the biggest difficulty in doing this show is finding that balance. To take everything seriously so that we can get the fart jokes and the beautiful and touching moments that this show has in store. 

Director Jesse Donaldson Jarrett talks to The Hanoi Times reporter. Photo: Ngo Minh/The Hanoi Times

What is your hope that the audience will take away from the musical?

As a creator, I just want the audience to love the show as much as I do. I want them to feel all the fun that the actors have, the drama, and the touching resolutions that the characters experience. I hope that at the end of the show, we can all share a love for what we have just experienced. As the resident director of the YOUniverse, I really want to give Vietnam its next taste of Broadway as we get closer and closer to that golden professional standard. And of course, I want to leave the impression of "Oh my God, I can't wait to see what they do next".

Personally, I am looking forward to the audience's feedback on Shrek the Musical, especially since this is the first time a musical has been performed on the big stage of the National Convention Center in Hanoi.

What is your experience in Hanoi?

I really like life here. I love Hanoi one hundred percent. Everyone was friendly and helped me wholeheartedly. I've only been here since March this year and have learned enough simple sentences in Vietnamese to be able to go down the street to buy bread and coffee. I really like Hanoi’s bread and beef noodle soup near the hotel where I stay.

I also tried Hanoi's famous egg coffee and roamed the Hoan Kiem Lake area. Currently, I work most of the week so I don't have time to visit. When the project is complete, I will spend about a week traveling to Hanoi and a neighboring locality, possibly Quang Ninh or Ninh Binh, before returning to Australia.

Director Jesse Donaldson Jarret at the sneak peek of the musical. Photo: Ngo Minh/The Hanoi Times

How do you see the arts industry in Vietnam in the next five years?

Well, maybe somewhat selfishly, I would love it if the musical theater scene here had a dramatic boom, creating much more work for myself and my colleagues. Truly, from what I have seen in my short time here, there are a lot of strong foundations for the artistic community. I'm sure this opinion will be strengthened once I go to HCM City. I have been exposed to many people eager to learn and elevate the art form.

So, I predict that the quality of work you will see in Vietnam will increase dramatically, enriching the theater scene with a higher level of performance. The multiple elements of the art from becoming more coherent with one another, so we will see more pieces using lights and sound creatively whilst also being directly linked to what's happening on the stage. Hopefully, this will start creating a boom in more Vietnamese works being created for the stage.

In five years, we may start to see the beginning of the next evolution of Vietnamese performing arts.

Thanks for your time.