A much-loved musical with a big green ogre, with an even bigger heart is setting out to enchant Aberdeen audiences.
And the return of Shrek the Musical to His Majesty’s Theatre will see the city’s own home-grown acting star Laura Main working her magic as the fiesty, but lovable Princess Fiona.
Laura, who has become a household name in BBC One’s Sunday night favourite Call The Midwife, said: “I have 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 cannot wait for this fairytale to take me across the country.”
Based on the Oscar-winning film which was first released in 2001, Shrek the Musical turns the world of traditional fairytales upside down.
The well-known story about an ogre who befriends fairytale creatures and after a lot of persuasion agrees to rescue a princess, has been entertaining theatre lovers all over the world.
Laura, who studied at Hazlehead Academy and the University of Aberdeen, was “absolutely over the moon” when she found out the tour would make a stop in her home town.
She said this made her want to do the show even more.
And Laura added she is completely in love with the character she portrays.
She said: “Fiona is not your average princess and I really like that. She is feisty and fun to play.”
Even though the musical is aimed at children, Laura is certain adults will have a great time as well – mainly because of the show’s different layers of humour.
Laura – who has starred in all seven series of Call The Midwife, initially as Sister Bernadette who left her life as a nun to marry Dr Turner – thinks the central message of the musical is to “be true to yourself.”
And she really likes the fact that there will be many children in the audience who can be positively influenced by this message.
While Laura hopes children will adore their beautiful costumes and catchy tunes, she has no doubt they will be giggling when Shrek and Fiona throw a party.
And as the slightly annoying, but very lovable character Donkey would say: “You might have seen a housefly, maybe even a superfly, but I bet you ain’t never seen a donkey fly!”
Shrek The Musical was first brought to life on stage in Seattle more than a decade ago.
Created by Playful Productions and Neal Street Productions, it is hitting the road in this country once again after the unprecedented success of the first UK and Ireland tour.
This brand new production, which opened at Christmas in Edinburgh, is sure to delight Aberdeen audiences, say the producers.
Nick Salmon, co-producer at Playful Productions, said: “We cannot wait to bring this much loved story to audiences across the country once more.
“I am thrilled the show will be reuniting many of the talented team members who have been involved in the production since day one.
“Nigel (Harman) has gone from being Lord Farquaad in the West End to directing our touring production and Steffan (Harri), who was previously one of our hilarious Three Pigs, will be stepping into Shrek’s ogre-sized shoes.”
The smash hit musical is set to open at HMT in Aberdeen on Wednesday with the show opening at 7pm.
Shrek The Musical will then run until Sunday, March 11.
However, there will be no shows on Monday and Tuesday. Performance times vary.
Please note that haze and strobe lighting will be used throughout the production.
