Let's just get the obvious joke out of the way right off the bat: David F.M. Vaughn is making his way to the top of the show biz ladder by spending a lot of time on his knees. In fact he's doing it all across the countryâ┚¬â€Âplaying diminutive Lord Farquaad in the touring production of Shrek the Musical, which brings its irreverent cast of fairytale characters to Tampa and Orlando this May.
Playing a character as short as he is evil transforms Vaughn, making him virtually unrecognizable, even though his one prosthetic is a butt-chin. Farquaad is brunette, Vaughn is blond. Farquaad is a mere four and a half feet, Vaughn is 6'1â┚¬ÂÂ. Farquaad appears to prefer women, Vaughn prefers men.
â┚¬Å”I always find it helpful in any sort of characterization. You don't fear making choicesâ┚¬â€ÂI mean you've been through middle school, so you're a little more fearless,â┚¬Â said Vaughn of being a gay actor. He spoke to Watermark via phone from Cincinnati, a recent stop for the show.
Vaughn may not be buried under prostheticsâ┚¬â€Âor a helmet, like the actor playing Donkeyâ┚¬â€Âbut making him pint-sized takes lots of kneepads and rigging. He operates Farquaad's legs with his knees, making him something of a unique breed of puppeteer. The mechanics of his costume are often a source of humor in and of themselves, including Vaughn's personal favorite scene: Lord Farquaad proposing to Princess Fiona.
â┚¬Å”The way it's written, I have to get down on one knee,â┚¬Â Vaughn says. â┚¬Å”What I have to go through to make that happenâ┚¬Â¦the audience loves it.â┚¬ÂÂ
Born in Virginia, Vaughn and his family moved to Florida when he was nine years old. His dad left a job at the Pentagon to work for the Home Shopping Network, and the family put down roots in Palm Harbor in Pinellas County. Vaughn eventually attended University of South Florida for a couple of semesters, but graduated from Florida State University.
In between those collegiate stints, he took a job in the Vegas production Tommygun, a review of music from the 1930s and 1940s at the MGM Grand, which Vaughn concedes was terrible. As he learned from subsequent police questioning, the show was more than likely a front for money laundering, but it provided Vaughn with the important experience of being part of professional performing scene in Las Vegas.
FSU gave Vaughn the traditional college experienceâ┚¬â€Âfraternities, dorm life, etc.â┚¬â€Âthat USF, more of a commuter school, was lacking. He graduated with general theatre degree. Considering the strength of his career today, it is surprising to learn that he auditioned for the musical theatre program twice, and was declined twice.
â┚¬Å”That was soul-crushing. I figured that was it: if I can't get into this program then I'm not going to make it. But in an odd way it was goodâ┚¬â€ÂI had to fight for the class I wanted,â┚¬Â he said, crediting that time with giving him the stamina to tackle a career in performing.
Though he took a few piano lessons when he was around six years old, Vaughn taught himself to play piano by ear. In 2004, his friend Dante Russo asked him to try his hand at composing music for a project; the result: Extraordinary. The play is about a nine-year-old who journeys through a couch to help his deaf cousin find her hearing. It won Outstanding Lyrics and Music at The 2005 New York International Fringe Festival and has received several other recognitions. Vaughn has since studied music theory and composition to solidify his craft. His other composing credits include The Johnny, The Night, Trip the Light Fantastic, and music for the web series Weiner & Weiner.
â┚¬Å”It's more fun than anything for me,â┚¬Â he said of composing. â┚¬Å”It's kind of my little outlet.â┚¬ÂÂ
Vaughn was part of the Broadway cast of Shrek the Musical, understudying the Farquaad role and performing it on the Great White Way a couple of times. The role became his when he joined the touring production in Chicago this past July.
It would be a mistake to assume the musical is just the film onstage. Running a full hour longer than its predecessor, the 2001 animated feature about an ogre who finds the ogre of his dreams, the stage version gives audiences a deeper insight into the tale, not unlike Wicked. We learn how Fiona wound up in the tower, how Shrek came to live in a swamp, and even why Lord Farquaad is so short. With a book and lyrics written by David Lindsay-Abaire, Pulitzer prize-winning author of the sublime Rabbit Hole, one can assume this show is more than mere child's play.
When it comes to deciding whether or not to buy a ticket for Shrek the Musical, Vaughn urges people to remember the feeling they had when they saw the first film. Like that movie, the stage version boasts ribald humor for young and old alike with dialogue laced with references to current and local events.
â┚¬Å”I promise you there's plenty of sex jokes,â┚¬Â said Vaughn, laughing. â┚¬Å”Don't let that be the last line of the article: â┚¬ËœVaughn said there's plenty of sex to go around.'â┚¬ÂÂ
