Nigel Harman to direct 2014/15 Shrek UK & Ireland Tour

It has been announced that Nigel Harman will direct the 2014/15 UK are Ireland Tour of Shrek The Musical, which begins at the Grand Theatre in Leeds on Wednesday 23rd July.

The tour will then visit Bristol, Nottingham, Belfast, Dublin, Oxford, Manchester, Aberdeen, Canterbury, Newcastle, Glasgow and Sheffield, with further venues still to be announced.

Nigel Harman originated the role of Lord Farquaad in the West End production of Shrek The Musical which was seen by nearly one million people at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Nigel went on to win the 2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical. Nigel was recently cast as Simon Cowell in I Can't Sing, the X Factor musical which opens at the London palladium next year.

Shrek The Musical, which was originally directed in the West End by Jason Moore and Rob Ashford, is based on the story and characters from William Steig's book Shrek! and the Oscar-winning Dreamworks Animations feature film.

Bill Damaschke, Chief Creative Officer of DreamWorks, said: "We are thrilled that Shrek and his fairy-tale friends will be heading out on tour across the UK and Ireland and delighted that our very own Nigel Harman will be directing Shrek The Musical on the road. It has been such a joy to bring this loved story to life and we can't wait for families up and down the country to experience their beloved swamp-dwelling ogre, Princess Fiona, Donkey and all their pals live on stage, as so many have on Broadway and in the West End."

Nigel Harman said: "I am delighted to be returning to Shrek as its director. This show is very special to me with its dizzying blend of great characters, a hilarious script and sublime music. This production is visually stunning, and the story has the magic ingredient of moving at great pace while still being surprisingly intimate. In short, there was no way I was going to say no to the challenge of realising the production for the UK and Ireland. I really can't wait to take this show on the road!"

Shrek The Musical opened on Broadway in 2008 before touring to nearly 150 cities in the USA and Canada. Productions of Shrek The Musical have played in Spain, Poland, France, Malaysia, China, Brazil, Italy, Denmark, The Netherlands, Estonia, Israel and Turkey. 

The UK and Ireland tour will be presented by DreamWorks Theatricals, Neal Street Productions, Playful Productions, Lee Menzies, Ron Kastner, Robert G Bartner, Saracen Films, Mark Cartwright, Gavin Kalin, Glass Half Full Productions/Just For Laughs Theatricals.

Casting information will be announced in due course.

Photo Credit 2: Helen Maybanks (Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad in the original West End production.)  

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