Suffolk actor Reece Kerridge is having a ball playing one of the Three Little Pigs in Shrek The Musical. He speaks to arts correspondent Emma Knights.
Suffolk actor Reece Kerridge plays one of the mischievous Three Little Pigs in Shrek The Musical, so it is perhaps quite apt that his journey to the stage actually began when he was sent to dance classes as a child to stop him from being naughty.
'I was actually a really naughty kid, hard to believe I know!' said Reece, who grew up in Woodbridge and went to Farlingaye High School.
'My mum sent me to baby ballet at Coral Stebbings School of Theatre Dance, which is local to Woodbridge and Leiston, and I actually got sent for discipline!
'Little did my parents know that, hey, I would be playing a pig in Shrek The Musical and a Mormon on stage [in The Book of Mormon].
'So my story is that I was sent for discipline because I was very naughty! And here we are still going strong!'
When asked if he channels that naughty little boy when playing one of the pigs, he replied with a cheeky glint in his eye: 'Always!'
He added: 'It's not every day you get to be a pig! I absolutely love it and they are so funny...it's so nice to be able to just have a laugh.'
Reece is also a cover for Lord Farquaad, and it is clear he is having brilliant time with the musical on stage and off.
'We have a ball every night on stage, there's always something different, there's always something going on so, we have such a laugh and it's such a good company and cast,' he said.
Prior to Shrek, Reece developed his craft at Emma Dodd School of Performing Arts in Ipswich before studying at Laine Theatre Arts in Surrey.
He made his West End debut in The Book of Mormon and was also in the Madness musical Our House.
He is soon set to appear the new Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again movie which he filmed a scene for last summer
'I'm one of the dancers in a graduate scene in one of the flashbacks. It was fun to film, completely different to stage…it was nice to do something different to what I'm used to,' said Reece, although he sadly did not get travel to a Greek island for the filming.
'We actually filmed that in Oxford at the university, which was great.
Film fans will have to wait until next month to see the film – but for now Reece is happy to be back in East Anglia and performing at Norwich Theatre Royal.
'I'm so excited to come to Norwich. It is literally just like coming home,' he said.
'My mum has organised a coach trip of like 60 people so she's coming with them, and my old dance school has also organised a coach trip so there's no rest for the wicked!'
• Shrek The Musical is at Norwich Theatre Royal until July 8. To book, visit www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk or call the box office on 01603 630000.
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