There’s nothing amateur about new Shrek show from this Sheffield theatre company

The show will feature a fully functioning dragon and a host of special effects that will see a fairytale princess transformed quickly into a troll,

With such a fantastic fantasy theme behind the show, there are some expenses that have taken even STOS Theatre Company treasurer David Streeter by surprise.

He said: “This has to be the first time I’ve ever had to set a four figure nose budget.

“It’s that sort of show, of course, with so many different characters to be made up and if they don’t look the way people expect them to look then they will be disappointed.

“This is our most expensive show to date but we want to make it as good as the professional touring production.

“In fact, what we want is for anybody who simply walks in off the street to see the show without many prior knowledge not to be able to tell the difference between the professional version and our version.

“One of the biggest challenges for a company like ours is investing in shows that people want to see.

“In this case people want to see a much-loved animation come to life and that’s why we are spending so much on costumes, sets and production values.”

Shrek The Musical is the stage sensation adapted from the smash hit Hollywood movie animated comedy favourite, a crazy re-boot of some familiar fairy tales with a cool contemporary twist.

Following hugely popular runs on Broadway, in the West End and on tour, the show gets its South Yorkshire amateur premiere courtesy of STOS Theatre Company, running at the Lyceum from November 12 to 16.

Investing so much in a show could been seen as something of a risk for a non-professional company but STOS chairman Phil Brownhill insists that is a risk the company is prepared to take.

“We want to put something on that people cannot recognise as anything else than a professional show,” he said.

“If we could we would take out of our publicity any mention of the word amateur because the word really does put out the wrong message of what people can expect from a company like STOS.

“The only thing that could be described as amateur about a show like Shrek The Musical is that we don’t get paid.”

The company have staged various shows in the past, ranging from White Christmas to West Side Story and My Fair Lady to Made in Dagenham.

Shrek The Musical is at the Lyceum from November 12 to 16. Mark Feakins will be the director of the show, Tom Owen will be musical director and Claire Harriott will be choreographer.

For tickets call 0114 249 6000 or visit sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.

To find out more about STOS Theatre Company, which is one of Sheffield’s biggest non professional theatre companies, please visit www.stos.org.uk where you also find a full cast list. STOS exclusively perform at the Lyceum Theatre, and their shows have been seen by over 15,000 people in the last three years.