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Speaker 1: This is Breakfast with Bongani on seven o two. Let's

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Speaker 1: walklet's talk, let's go to something entirely different. We are,

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Speaker 1: of course big supporters of the arts on seven oh

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Speaker 1: two Breakfast, even when it comes to the kids. So

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Speaker 1: the swamp is calling, and guess what Shrek is back.

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Speaker 1: That's right, Shrek the Musical Junior returns to the People's

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Speaker 1: Theater and it's on until the nineteenth of April. So

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Speaker 1: this will be a good one for the Easter holidays.

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Speaker 1: As you'll know, not just your average fairy tale. We're

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Speaker 1: talking ogre sized laughs, high energy dancing, and a whole

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Speaker 1: lot of heart. You'll meet the grumpy but lovable Shrek,

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Speaker 1: he's hilarious sidekick Donkey, and of course the fearless Princess Fiona,

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Speaker 1: played amazingly by Bethany. And of course Bethany joins us

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Speaker 1: now on the line to tell us more about this

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Speaker 1: story of friendship, bravery and celebrating and what makes you different. Bethany,

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Speaker 1: A very good morning to you and welcome to seven

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Speaker 1: or two Breakfast.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, thank you so much.

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Speaker 1: What was your first reaction when you found out you'd

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Speaker 1: got the part of Fiona?

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Speaker 3: Oh goodness, I mean, I was shocked. I'll be honest,

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Speaker 3: I was not hopeful, but I was very excited. Shrek

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Speaker 3: is one of my ultimate favorite musicals, and I absolutely

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Speaker 3: love the character Fiona.

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Speaker 2: Man, She's just such a fun character to play. She's quirky,

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 3: So I was very excited, and I have even like

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Speaker 3: when I was still studying even I was studying musical theater. Yes,

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Speaker 3: I watched Shrek so much and I fell in love

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Speaker 3: with Fiona even then, so I was very very excited

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Speaker 3: to play her.

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Speaker 1: So how do you prepare to play a character that

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Speaker 1: so many people who will be watching have their own

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Speaker 1: interpretation of because they've seen it in the various animated films,

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Speaker 1: and of course in this musical version, people have an

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Speaker 1: idea of who they think Fiona is.

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Speaker 2: Yes, so okay, So basically what I did.

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Speaker 3: I actually started by watching the animation of the film,

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Speaker 3: the movie, the one that we all everybody probably knows,

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Speaker 3: So I started there, and because I already know the musical,

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Speaker 3: I also watched that a lot. And it's so funny

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Speaker 3: because when people find out that I'm going to play Fiona,

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Speaker 3: they're like, oh, yeah, makes sense. Yeah, you kind of

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Speaker 3: are like Fiona.

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Speaker 2: So it really wasn't that difficult for me.

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Speaker 3: To play her and also to prepare for her because

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Speaker 3: I've got a lot of simity to her.

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Speaker 1: Tell me about your favorite scene in the show.

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Speaker 2: Oh, oh, my gosh, there's a song. I love that song.

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Speaker 3: It's a song that Shrek and Fiona sing together. It's

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Speaker 3: like the moments where they now abviously that had the

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Speaker 3: initial meeting, but and that goes how it goes. And

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Speaker 3: I won't give away too much because the musical is

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Speaker 3: slightly not different, but there are some elements in the

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Speaker 3: musical that's not in the movie. But so there's a

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Speaker 3: song after they've had their meeting that they sing together

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Speaker 3: and they kind of like realize, hey, I like you,

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Speaker 3: and there's like similarities between them because like Fiona's got

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Speaker 3: this idea of how her love story is going to

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Speaker 3: play out, and then she obviously gets rescued by an

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Speaker 3: ogre and it really throws her and she's like, no, man,

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Speaker 3: I'm not supposed to be rescued by you.

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Speaker 2: Where's my true love? But then there's a.

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Speaker 3: Song that they sing together where they actually realize we've

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Speaker 3: got the same sense of humor. They fart and burp

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Speaker 3: in it, and it always gets the audience. That is

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Speaker 3: my favorite theme in the show.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Fiona is not your typical princess, right, and

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Speaker 1: this is not your usual damsel in distress story. If anything,

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Speaker 1: you might argue that it she who rescues Shrek in

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Speaker 1: the story that was a powerful thing to be able

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Speaker 1: to portray, particularly to young girls. But I'm boys too, yes, yes.

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Speaker 2: Oh no it is. I love this story, man.

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Speaker 3: I love her storyline because like obviously, like all of us,

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Speaker 3: like I'll just for instance, for me, growing up as

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Speaker 3: a kid watching all these movies about princesses being rescued

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Speaker 3: and reading the books, and then you've got this idea

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Speaker 3: of how it should be, you know, and you think

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Speaker 3: that that is the only way that it needs to be.

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Speaker 3: But then Fiona realizes that actually she's strong. She actually,

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Speaker 3: I mean she actually really didn't need Streck to save

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Speaker 3: her from the from the dragon the dragon's leg. She

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Speaker 3: actually could have done it herself. But I think, because

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Speaker 3: we've been so conditioned on how we should be and

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Speaker 3: how we should act and how you should just carry

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Speaker 3: yourself as a girl, for instance, even that you think

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Speaker 3: that that's the way it should be. But then there's

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Speaker 3: this beautiful story of like finding yourself, finding your inner strength,

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Speaker 3: also like falling in love, and your love.

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Speaker 2: Story is like it blows your mind. It's not what

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Speaker 2: you thought it's going to be. It's actually even better.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, So how do you think adults and kids

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Speaker 1: relate differently to this story?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Man, I think for kids.

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Speaker 3: Or obviously depends on what the kids are exposed to,

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Speaker 3: But for kids, I think kids still have this thing

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Speaker 3: of idea of how their lives are going to be,

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Speaker 3: how their love story or whatever is going to be.

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Speaker 3: But man, I feel like even with adults, it resonates

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Speaker 3: so much with adults.

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Speaker 2: Like I said, for instance, for me, I had the

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Speaker 2: idea of how my love.

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Speaker 3: Story was going to be, and then when I met

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Speaker 3: my husband, it was the total opposite. Like I married

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Speaker 3: someone who I didn't think i'd ever marry. I mean,

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Speaker 3: if anything, if I met like when I met my husband,

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Speaker 3: I was like, I don't know about you, actually don't

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Speaker 3: like you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, now he is far from an ogre, but.

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Speaker 3: Like he type of person that I was like, I

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Speaker 3: even say to my mom, Gosh, I don't love about

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Speaker 3: this guy, Like I don't know, I don't like him

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Speaker 3: that much I need.

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Speaker 2: To find out.

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Speaker 3: Like two years later, I am falling in love with

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Speaker 3: him and we are married and we've got kids. So

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Speaker 3: I think, oh man, it's such a lovely story, Like

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Speaker 3: adults will enjoy it, children will enjoy it.

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Speaker 1: Sounds absolutely fantastic. Bethany Gianna, of course, portraying the character

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Speaker 1: of Fiona in Shrick, the Musical that returns to to

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Speaker 1: the Children's Theater. You can go there, of course, until

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Speaker 1: the nineteenth of April

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Speaker 3: Seven two podcasts around seven two dot