Meet the Nominees: Shrek The Musical‘s Christopher Sieber

Some actors might resent spending the better part of two and half hours on their knees, but filling this short order has been a complete joy for the very tall Christopher Sieber, who is a 2009 Tony Award nominee for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of the small-in-stature but huge-in-ego Lord Farquaad in Shrek: The Musical. “I can honestly say that I’m the only actor in Broadway history to ever do the entire performance of a show on his knees, so I think I’m making Broadway history,” he says with a laugh.

If the job is the reward itself for Sieber, he admits the Tony nomination is a much-appreciated bonus. “It’s an overwhelming feeling to get the respect of your peers in this way,” says Sieber, who also received a nomination in this category for Monty Python’s Spamalot. “It’s basically indescribable.”

Audiences definitely notice Sieber, who seems to be having more fun on stage than should be humanly possible. While he says there are several great moments every night, one stands out above the rest. “Not only do I get to ride a great big plastic white horse out on stage, I get to name it a different name every single show,” he says. “That was one of the things that our book writer David Lindsay-Abaire let me do. Sometimes it’s raunchy and sometimes it’s silly, and sometimes it’s funny and sometimes it bombs, but I love getting to do it.”

While Sieber says that part of the secret to the show’s success is that it pleases both kids and adults — “it’s a big bright beautiful show for everybody” — he particularly enjoys the performances when kids are in the audience. “You know when the kids are there, because they’re the ones laughing at the things the adults aren’t laughing at,” he says. “All of a sudden, you’ll hear this one laugh over here in the back of the orchestra — this little ha ha ha — and that’s just fantastic.”