Believe all ‘ogre’ again! SHREK THE MUSICAL will be at the Edinburgh Playhouse for the festive season this year from 12th December before touring the country in 2018.
The musical is based on the story and characters from William Steig’s book Shrek! and the Oscar-winning DreamWorks Animations feature film. Originally directed in the West End by Jason Moore and Rob Ashford, the production has book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Jeanine Tesori with multi award-winning set and costume design by Tim Hatley.
Leading the cast as beloved swamp-dwelling ogre ‘Shrek’ will be Steffan Harri, having previously starred in the original UK tour of SHREK THE MUSICAL and Aberdeen born Call the Midwife star Laura Main as ‘Princess Fiona’. Also joining the cast will be Marcus Ayton as Shrek’s wisecracking sidekick ‘Donkey’ and Samuel Holmes as pint-sized villain ‘Lord Farquaad’. Further casting to be announced.
The company of fairy-tale characters will include Adam Baker, Ethan Bradshaw, Michael Carolan, Joseph Dockree, Will Hawksworth, Sarah-Louise Jones, Reece Kerridge, Thomas Lee Kidd, Amy Oxley, Jemma Revell, Lucinda Shaw, Sam Stones, Adam Taylor, Jennifer Tierney, Sophie Wallis, Francesca Williams, Laura Wilson and Kevin Yates.
Laura Main, who will play Princess Fiona in the upcoming tour, said: “I’ve been waiting a long time for an adventure like this to come along and now that it has I am ready to swap the surgery for the swamp in one of my favourite musicals. Shrek has made a Believer out of me and I can’t wait for this fairy-tale to take me across the country.”
Caro Newling, Co-Producer at Neal Street Productions, said: “At Neal Street we take pride in bringing together colleagues from different disciplines in new creative collaborations. For this Shrek tour, we are particularly excited to be bringing together Nigel Harman, with whom we have worked on many successful Neal Street projects, and Laura Main who joined Call The Midwife for the very first series back in 2012. Since Shrek the Musical’s West End debut in 2011 we have opened our doors to nearly 2 million audience members nationwide. It’s great to be out on the road again, ten years after Neal Street co-produced the first incarnation of the show with DreamWorks Animation in Seattle and then on Broadway.”
Nick Salmon, Co-Producer at Playful Productions, added: “I am thrilled that the show will be reuniting many of the talented team members who have been involved in the production since day one. Nigel has gone from being Lord Farquaad, in the West End to directing our touring production and Steffan, who was previously one of our hilarious Three Pigs, will be stepping into Shrek’s ogre-sized shoes. We can’t wait to bring this much-loved story to audiences across the country once more.”
Shrek the Musical is at the Edinburgh Playhouse from 12th December 2017 to 7th January 2018. Tickets are on sale now from here
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