TWO Kidderminster theatre students have taken centre stage in the hit West End and Broadway production of Shrek The Musical.

Nine-year-olds Isabella Cook and Eva Bailey sailed through the audition, organised by the Kidderminster Stagecoach School where the girls take acting classes, to secure the parts of some of the lead characters playing the young Princess Fiona on alternating nights at Birmingham's Hippodrome.

Isabella Cook said: "When I found out I got the part I was really excited, I was jumping up and down in the car. I’m really looking forward to being in the show as I love being on the Hippodrome stage. I'm especially looking forward to having my own solo.

"This show will bring me one step close to achieving my dreams. I'd love a career on the big stages in the West End, or maybe even Broadway, but I'd also like to do films as well. I just want to do it all."

Stagecoach Kidderminster principal Zoe Priestley said: "Isabella and Eva are delighted to be performing in the show. They’re such a fans of the film and were absolutely ecstatic to find out they’d landed roles in the musical. They’ve trained very hard over the past year and this is a great reward for their efforts."

The story of Shrek follows an unlikely hero and his loyal steed Donkey as they embark on a quest to rescue the beautiful Princess Fiona from a fire-breathing dragon. Add the diminutive Lord Farquaad, a gang of fairytale misfits, and a biscuit with attitude, and you’ve got the biggest, brightest musical comedy around

Alongside Isabella and Eva, the show will star Dean Chisnall as beloved swamp-dwelling ogre Shrek, the role he previously played in the West End, Faye Brookes as damsel in distress Princess Fiona, Idriss Kargbo as Shrek’s wisecracking sidekick Donkey, and Gerard Carey as pint-sized villain Lord Farquaad.

The UK and Ireland Tour of the musical is directed by Nigel Harman who starred as Lord Farquaad in the West End production at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, winning him the 2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical.

Shrek The Musical will run at the Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday, March 31, until Sunday, April 26. Tickets for the shows are on sale now and available online at shrekthemusical.co.uk/tour-dates/ .