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"Nigel Harman will direct an upcoming UK and Ireland tour of Shrek: The Musical. Shrek will embark on its first tour in 2014, kicking off at the Grand Theatre in Leeds on July 23.   It will then arrive for shows in Bristol, Nottingham, Belfast, Dublin, Oxford, Manchester, Aberdeen, Canterbury, Newcastle, Glasgow and Sheffield. Further venues will be announced in the future. The show is based on the original story by William Steig and the DreamWorks Animations film starring Mike Myers. DreamWorks&amp;#039; Bill Damaschke said: &amp;quot;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. &amp;quot;It has been such a joy to bring this loved story to life and we can&amp;#039;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.&amp;quot;  Harman won an Olivier Award for playing Lord Farquaad in the West End production. He said: &amp;quot;I am delighted to be returning to Shrek as its director. &amp;quot;This show is very special to me with its dizzying blend of great characters, a hilarious script and sublime music... In short, there was no way I was going to say no to the challenge of realising the production for the UK and Ireland.&amp;quot; Nigel Harman will play a spoof of Simon Cowell in the upcoming X Factor musical I Can&amp;#039;t Sing! He will also appear in the fourth series of ITV period drama Downton Abbey. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/news/a519013/nigel-harman-to-direct-shrek-uk-tour-in-2014/>