The video and stills all look really cheap. And I love Julia Murney, but she doesn't seem right for this part at all. If she was able to play a mother of a teenager 5 years ago (Saved), then she's a bit beyond playing an early-20-something princess. I think she's more right for parts like Diana in Next to Normal than Fiona.
Am I the only one that thought Rob McClure was kind of odd for the part of Farquaad? When they announced he was in the cast I assumed he was Pinocchio. IDK, just my initial reaction.
shrekster224, glad I'm not the only one. His physical comedy from Chaplin and voice part made me instantly assume Pinnochio. Glad someone else out there thought so too!
oy. video is up again and yes; it looks pretty underwhelming. the cheap looking costumes and painted, 2 dimensional flats are 100% typical of the Muny (with a 16,000 seat out door venue; attention to detail apparently is not that important to them since thousands of their audience members are too far away to notice anyway), but this production in particular looks like it hit a low for the Muny.
And the Muny does pay exceptionally well. A rule of thumb for certain equity contracts is the bigger the house, the higher potential ticket revenue; therefore higher pay for the actors.
Echoing what others have said, the Muny does pay very well. Here's their minimum pay scale, which is publicly available on Equity's website (obviously big names will negotiate more). And going with what matineeidol said, many Equity contracts with theatre organizations (LORT, COST, CORST, etc) involve different pay tiers based on weekly grosses. MSUA Minimum Salaries