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Becoming Lord Farquaad From 'Shrek' Means Staying Close To The Ground

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It's the biggest show in town. "Shrek The Musical" is now happening at the Hippodrome.

Weijia Jiang reports one of the biggest stars of the show is actually one of the smallest.

When David F.M. Vaughn goes to work every day, he's transformed into someone else -- royalty no less.

Becoming Lord Farquadd takes a long time. It starts with makeup Vaughn does himself--several layers worth of foundation, some evil eyebrows and a distinguished chin. Then comes the wig.

"Whew! Now that's done," said Vaughn.

The tricky part is what to do with his height.

"It has the dummy legs attached to it," said Vaughn.

Farquaad is, after all, short--about 3 feet tall. Vaughn is buckled into a rig for the entire show, on his knees.

"Obviously the kneepads support my knees, these click around my leg. I walk on these wooden blocks. They bend so I can move around, so when I move my knee the foot moves," said Vaughn.

There's a feature so the little feet walk and bounce when Vaughn moves.

"You see a lot of butts on stage," said Vaughn.

Lord Farquaad even has several dance numbers. As for his personality...

"We make him more of a brat, more of a nasty little child," said Vaughn.

Some never would have guessed, but he is a lovable villain Vaughn loves to play, despite and even in light of the quirks.

You can catch the show now until this Sunday, April 3.

After its run here, "Shrek" will next go to Pittsburgh.

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