Why the Donkey role challenges Surrey actor in \u2018Shrek\u2019 musical, in New West<\/p>\n
Published 9:56 am Wednesday, April 8, 2026<\/p>\n
Chris Francisque says he\u2019s trying his best not to act or sound like Eddie Murphy in his portrayal of Donkey in Shrek the Musical, Royal City Musical Theatre\u2019s spring production, April 17 to May 3 at Massey Theatre in New Westminster.<\/p>\n
Murphy, of course, was the wise-cracking, hilarious vocal star of four animated Shrek movies starting in 2001, with a fifth expected in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say this is probably one of my more challenging roles,\u201d Francisque says, \u201cnot only because of the singing but because people only know one version of Donkey, which is Eddie Murphy\u2019s version. The challenge for me was to do something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Francisque says he purposely did not watch any Shrek movies recently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen them,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I didn\u2019t want to basically refresh my memory with Eddie\u2019s version because I\u2019m trying my hardest to kind of unlearn a lot of that. I mean, he brought the character to life, but I\u2019m trying to make it my own performance without it sort of looking like I\u2019m mimicking Eddie Murphy.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Surrey resident, Francisque joins in the family-friendly fun of Royal City\u2019s latest big-stage musical, an adventure for the beloved green ogre and cast of fairy tale misfits in the Kingdom of Duloc.<\/p>\n
Born and raised in Montreal, Francisque found his way to Surrey. On local stages, he made an award-winning debut in Surrey Little Theatre\u2019s production of Truth and Reconciliation in 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what started me on the path of my professional acting career,\u201d said Francisque, who does a lot of TV commercials now.<\/p>\n
Staged musicals are new to the Clayton Heights Secondary grad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first show with Royal City, and furthermore it\u2019s the first musical that I\u2019ve ever done,\u201d Francisque reported. \u201cIt\u2019s a completely different beast, and not something that I\u2019d sought out. It was Chris (Adams), our director, who saw me in a show I did in 2019 called Superior Donuts, and he remembered me from then.\u201d<\/p>\n
For playing Franco Wicks in Superior Donuts, staged in Kitsilano, Francisque won a Jessie Award for best supporting actor.<\/p>\n
In Shrek the Musical, he sings six songs in what he calls a \u201ccomforting\u201d show.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can bring your your family to it, have a good time, and for people who haven\u2019t seen the musical production before, there\u2019s the added element of music in this, that extra layer of depth,\u201d Francisque sings. \u201cAudiences can rediscover Shrek in kind of a different way than they\u2019re used to seeing. There\u2019s good music in this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every spring, Royal City Musical Theatre shows entertain close to 10,000 people at Massey Theatre, on multiple dates.<\/p>\n