Photo Flash: First Look at Dean Chisnall, Faye Brookes and More in SHREK UK and Ireland Tour

The UK and Ireland tour of SHREK THE MUSICAL® premieres tonight, Wednesday 30 July at the Grand Theatre in Leeds before 'taking ogre' Bristol, Nottingham, Belfast, Dublin, Oxford, Manchester, Aberdeen, Canterbury, Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow, Sheffield, Norwich, Southampton, Plymouth and Milton Keynes with further venues still to be announced. Check out a first look below!

SHREK THE MUSICAL® UK and Ireland Tour will be directed by Nigel Harman who starred as Lord Farquaad in the west end production, winning him the 2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical.

Coming direct from London, where it was seen live on stage by nearly a million people, the UK and Ireland tour of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane production of SHREK THE MUSICAL® will star Dean Chisnall as beloved swamp-dwelling ogre 'Shrek', the role he previously played in the West End, Faye Brookes as damsel in distress 'Princess Fiona', Idriss Kargbo as Shrek's wisecracking sidekick 'Donkey' and Gerard Carey as pint-sized villain 'Lord Farquaad'.

They will be joined by a full company of fairy-tale characters played by Bronté Barbé, Nikki Bentley, Jennifer Caldwell, Candace Furbert, Steffan Harri, Will Haswell, James Lacey, Mia Lincoln, Rory Maguire, Neil Moors, Jenny O'Leary, Georgina Parkinson, Ryan Reid, Leo Roberts, Jacqui Sanchez, Oliver Tester, James Winter, Kerry Winter and Kevin Yates.

SHREK THE MUSICAL®, written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori and 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 Academy Award®-winning DreamWorks Animations feature film.

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, Tulchin/Bartner Productions, Saracen Films, Mark Cartwright, Gavin Kalin, Glass Half Full Productions/Just For Laughs Theatricals.

Website: www.shrekthemusical.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/shrekuktour
Facebook: www.facebook.com/shrekthemusicaluktour

Photo Credit: Helen Maybanks