New dates have been announced for the latest musical to hit the stage, following the postponement of the original times.

Douglas Choral Union will now bring their production of ’Shrek - The Musical’ to the Gaiety Theatre on Friday, April 23, for a run of 10 shows until Saturday, May 1.

The current lockdown meant that the cast and crew were unable to properly prepare for their original opening night, which was set to take place on Friday, February 12.

The play is a family-friendly romp through one of the most successful and well-loved animated films of recent times and stars a host of talented local actors in the lead roles, including Iain Dixon, Dandi Dancox and Jonathan Sleight as the three leads, Shrek, Princess Fiona and their comedy sidekick Donkey.

With only weeks to go before the opening night, the cast were ready to resume rehearsals following a Christmas break before the latest lockdown hit.

Director David Dawson said that, even though the restrictions should have been lifted in time for the original date, the gap in preparation times has left them with no choice but to push the dates back.

’It is frustrating, as we were so close to our final preparations,’ he said.

However, there is so much to consider that people may not be aware of.

’All out sets and costumes are coming from across, and obviously that takes a lot of time and organisation to do. ’Also, we have missed out on three key weeks of rehearsals.

’We have done what we can over Zoom, which has actually been pretty beneficial in some ways.

’We have had a few more weeks of further character development and Perry O’Dea, our choreographer, has spent a bit more time with the dancers.

’As this show is being held to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Douglas Choral Union, we want to make sure that we are able to put on the very best show we can and give everyone the best experience possible.

’With that in mind, we thought it wouldn’t be the worst option to knock the dates back a couple of months.’

Tickets are available, priced from £23 for adults, from the Villa Gaiety box office and the Welcome Centre in the Sea Terminal in Douglas, on 600555, and online from villagaiety.com