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Brian d'Arcy James has jet-black hair that really waves and an easy grin-going-to-smile that can light up a warehouse — he is considered, in certain quarters, tolerably handsome — so you may understand why he was taken aback when DreamWorks Theatricals told him exactly what role they had in mind for him in Shrek the Musical: the title one. The green slimmer himself — grungy, grouchy, pot-bellied and bald — has trumpetlike ears and a short fuse for all who trespass on his smelly old swampland.

"When I was told I was being considered for this, I really couldn't believe it," the actor admits. "I thought I was being considered for another part, and when it was made clear it was for the role of Shrek, it made me stop for a second — not because I was fearful of pursuing it but because I just couldn't understand how that could take place, that I would be considered for this role." Then, director Jason Moore stepped up to the plate and, with his designers for backup, explained how. Like the good heart lurking beneath Shrek's off-putting exterior, it's all about depth vs. illusion.

"I feel so lucky to be that guy to have the chance to do this," says James. "As my character says, 'We're misunderstood. Ogres have layers. Ogres have more going on than pillaging and eating children and smelling bad.' That's the quality of this character I love. There's more dimension to him than people perceive, so the story being told is, basically, 'Don't judge a book by its cover.' And he [Shrek] is at every point, to the best of his abilities, trying to educate people to that. What's great about it is that, at the end, he is given the encouragement and the courage to go out on a limb and ask for love and ask for friendship — and he finds out that's okay, that he deserves it.

"It's easy to cast this as a fairy-tale book because it has all the familiar underpinnings of that. There's a lot of stuff on the top that makes people laugh and makes them thrilled with the design — but the story in and of itself is so potent. The truth of the story being told is about wanting to find, and being able to find, love. If that's not the most resonant story for an audience there is, I don't know what is."