Lead casting for the UK & Ireland Tour of Shrek the Musical has bee announced.
Anthony Lawrence will play Shrek; Joanne Clifton will play Princess Fiona; James Gillian will play Lord Faquaad and Brandon Lee Sears will play Donkey.
Anthony Lawrence ( Shrek)most recently played Scar in The Lion King (International Tour) and has appeared in Mary Poppins (National Tour), Matilda the Musical (Cambridge Theatre/RSC) and We Will Rock You (International Arena Tour).
Best known for her time on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, after winning the World Professional Showdance Champion and the European Professional Ballroom Championship, Joanne Clifton (Fiona) joined the iconic TV show as a professional dancer. During her time on the show she won the Christmas Special with McFly’s Harry Judd and went on to win the glitterball trophy as the 2016 champion with her partner Ore Oduba. On stage Joanne Clifton is currently starring in Windfall (Southwark Playhouse) and previously played Morticia in The Addams Family (UK Tour).
Olivier Award-nominee James Gillan (Lord Faquaad) most recently created the role of Tray in Everybody’s talking About Jamie (Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue) – a role he stayed with through the show’s entire West End run. He also performed in Everybody’s talking About Jamie at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA for its six-week run.
Brandon Lee Sears (Donkey) most recently played the role of Jimmy Early in Dreamgirls (UK tour). His previous theatre credits include the original West End productions of Be More Chill (Shaftesbury), Come From Away (Phoenix); Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Motown the Musical (Shaftesbury); and On the Town (Regents Park).
On 27 February 2023, the cast of Shrek the Musical will perform at BBC Big Night of the Musicals at Manchester’s AO Arena. The programme will be shown in a special 90-minute presentation on BBC One and on BBC Radio 2 in the spring.
Shrek the Musical opens at Plymouth Theatre Royal on 21 July 2023 and then tours to Manchester, Dublin, Bristol, Southend, Carlisle, Aberdeen, Oxford, Wimbledon, Dartford, Northampton, Bradford, Woking, Eastbourne, Cardiff, York, Blackpool and in 2024: Glasgow Kings, Edinburgh Playhouse, Coventry Belgrade, Sunderland Empire, Liverpool Empire, Southampton Mayflower, Milton Keynes Theatres, Hull New, Cheltenham Everyman, Nottingham Playhouse, Norwich Theatre Royal, Grand Opera House Belfast, The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham and The Millenium Forum, Derry. For full listings, please see the notes to editors below.
The bright and beautiful fairy-tale world of Shrek will be reimagined by a new creative team for this major tour.
Sam Holmes (Club Tropicana the Musical) , who played Lord Farquaad in the previous UK tour, returns to the swamp to co-direct. He is joined by acclaimed director and choreographer Nick Winston (Bonnie and Clyde West End; (Beauty and the Beast UK tour (as associate director and choreographer). Set and costume design will is by Philip Witcomb, lighting by Ben Cracknel and sound by Ben Harrison.
