Michael Ball Eyes the Monster Title Role in DreamWorks' Shrek in the West End

Michael Ball may be going green in the West End. The Daily Mail reports that Ball is in early talks to take on the title role in Shrek the Musical, which is expected to take the London stage in 2011.

Shrek the Musical made its debut on Broadway in December 2008, starring Brian d'Arcy James and Sutton Foster as ogre Shrek and princess Fiona, respectively. The production played 441 performances on Broadway and closed in January 2010. Since then, the show has reportedly been rewritten and supplemented with new musical numbers. Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks told The Daily Mail the show is expected to fare very well in the U.K., where the Shrek brand is extremely popular.

Ball, who was recently announced to star opposite Imelda Staunton in Sweeney Todd at the Chichester Festival, most recently wowed audiences in London in his Olivier Award-winning turn as Edna Turnblad in  musical Hairspray. His many other West End credits include Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Passion and The Woman in White. He starred on Broadway in The Woman in White and Aspects of Love.

Shrek, the story of a swamp-dwelling ogre who goes on a life-changing adventure, is based on the story and characters from William Steig’s book Shrek! as well as the DreamWorks animated film. It features book and lyrics David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori.

A timeline and venue for the West End production have yet to be confirmed.