Clinton native performing just miles from where he grew up in "Shrek: The Musical"
Story Created:
Feb 7, 2012 at 7:14 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Feb 7, 2012 at 7:14 PM EDT
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Clinton native, Chris Widomski, is one of nine musicians now touring the country with "Shrek: the Musical," playing the flute, clarinet, base clarinet and soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone for the national tour.
Starting on Tuesday, he'll be performing at the Stanley Center for the Arts, just a few miles from where he grew up in Clinton and graduated from Clinton High School, where he says his musical interests began.
"I was on stage for 42nd Street, but I really can't dance," Chris joked. "So the next year, I decided to be in pit orchestra for "Hello Dolly," where I learned the clarinet and I'd already been playing the saxophone for a number of years."
Chris graduated in 2002 from Clinton High School, conducted shows at Rome's Capitol Theatre, and then went on to study Music Education at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. He will perform with the rest of the Shrek cast and crew in more than 50 cities, but is happy to now be at the Stanley, a theater he knows well from his time growing up in the area.
"I've never had an opportunity to actually play in the theatre, and so, it just was kind of funny for me that I had to go away to come back and play here," he said.
Chris says his favorite part of the busy touring life is being able to sit down and play fun songs like the hit, "I'm a Believer" and then Chris's favorite - the exit music for Shrek: The Musical.
"It's one of those songs, where we can just completely let our hair down and not worry about volume or anything and just let loose," he says.
Shrek: the Musical will be at the Stanley Theater until Thursday, and then continues its tour across the country until late April.
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