Pregnant Lucy Durack cast as Fiona in Shrek The Musical
There won’t be much down time after Lucy Durack gives birth to her second child. The celebrated stage performer has revealed the big role she’ll take on soon after her baby arrives.
NSW
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There won’t be much down time after Lucy Durack gives birth to her second child.
The celebrated stage performer has been cast as Fiona in the upcoming stage production of Shrek The Musical and is scheduled to begin rehearsals a month after her son’s due date in October.
“Plenty of other women have done it before,” Durack told Confidential. “I am a little nervous but I’m making sure I am as prepared as possible.”
Durack, 36, will play Fiona to Ben Mingay as Shrek in the stage adaptation of the hit Hollywood animated flick while Marcia Hines has signed on as Dragon for the Sydney season that kicks off on January 1 at the Lyric Theatre.
With eight shows a week for the Sydney run before it moves to Melbourne and Brisbane, Durack is getting as much preparation done now to ensure she is ready.
She and partner Chris Horsey are already parents to four-year-old daughter Polly.
“We are just trying to work it all out. My husband is going to help out and we have a nanny on board as well and my mum will probably fly in for a bit of the time.”
Durack is one of our best known stars of the stage and is perhaps most recognised for playing Glinda the good witch in the Wizard of Oz.
Her Wizard co-star Jemma Rix has been giving her tips on how to take off her green make-up quickly as playing Fiona will require Durack to transform into an ogre.
“She has already sent me a list of what is going to be useful to de-green,” she said.
Of playing Fiona, who was voiced by Cameron Diaz in the films, she added: “She is very different from any other princess I have played. She farts and burps and is not your conventional princess in any way; she is pretty fun and a little bit skittish. She is a little bit unhinged because she has been waiting for 8423 days for her prince.”
Meanwhile, Durack is mid-way through shooting a revamped season of Australia’s Got Talent for Channel 7 with Nicole Scherzinger, Shane Jacobson and Manu Feildel.
It is her first time as a judge, which Durack admits she is grappling with.
“I actually did struggle a bit,” she said. “Everybody is trying their hardest and everybody has put in their effort.
Durack will also perform in the upcoming pantomime season of Bonnie Lythgoe’s Jack and the Bean Stalk.
“It has been a really fun and exciting year. I am very grateful.”
Originally published as Pregnant Lucy Durack cast as Fiona in Shrek The Musical
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