Neil McDermott

Neil McDermott (born 15 December 1980) is a British stage and television actor who is best known for portraying Ryan Malloy in the BBC television soap opera EastEnders.

Career

McDermott appeared in the 2008 Doctor Who episode "The Next Doctor", as well as Casualty and Rosemary and Thyme, amongst others, the feature films Goal! and Blooded, and various stage productions including The Sound of Music in the West End. He trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. He joined the cast of EastEnders in 2009. In June 2011, Digital Spy reported that McDermott was leaving EastEnders. An EastEnders spokesperson said, "We can confirm Neil is leaving EastEnders. It was a mutual decision that was made before Christmas when Neil's contract came up for renewal and we wish him all the best for the future. His exit storyline will be dramatic and fans will not be disappointed."

McDermott replaced fellow Enders actor Nigel Harman as Lord Farquaad in Shrek the Musical at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London's West End on 29 February 2012. The production plays its final performance 24 February 2013 with McDermott as Farquaad. On 2 September 2014, McDermott briefly reprised the role of Ryan Malloy in EastEnders.

Ryan Malloy

Ryan Malloy is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Neil McDermott. From his arrival on 28 April 2009, the character remained a mystery in the show for a number of months, until he was revealed as the half-brother of established character, Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty). Ryan departed on 26 August 2011, before making a surprise guest appearance on 2 September 2014. Following his former lover, Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner), being sectioned in the episode that aired on 22 January 2016, he then made a surprise return for a short stint to look after his daughter Lily Branning (Aine Garvey).

Storylines

Ryan first appears on screen on 28 April 2009 when he is seen in the park by Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) and Shirley Carter (Linda Henry). He asks Whitney if she is all right, but she runs off calling him a "creep". Weeks later, he helps Whitney and others escape from a fire started in the café by Nick Cotton (John Altman). Whitney then sees Ryan as a mysterious hero. Whitney's mother, Debra Dean (Ruth Gemmell), turns up at Whitney's house, saying that a man is after her. Whitney demands to know why, and Debra says she has something belonging to him. They fetch it, but when they return home, Ryan is waiting for them; he is the man who is chasing Debra. Ryan reveals to Whitney he is her half-brother and says he killed someone in self-defence, giving the weapon to Debra to hide. He demands it back from Whitney, but she refuses, and later disposes of it in a canal.

Shrek The Musical

Shrek The Musical is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. It is based on the 2001 DreamWorks film Shrek and William Steig's 1990 book Shrek!. After a trial run in Seattle, the original Broadway production opened in December 2008, and closed after a run of over 12 months in January 2010. It was followed by a tour of the United States which opened in 2010, and a re-vamped West End production from June 2011. Since its debut, the musical's rights have been available for independent overseas theatres, who have chosen to stage their own versions of the show, starting with the 2010 Israel production.

A High Definition filming of the Broadway production was released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download on October 15, 2013, in North America and December 2 in the UK.

History

Development

Lindsay-Abaire and Jason Moore (director) began working on the show in 2002, with Tesori joining the team from 2004. A reading took place on August 10, 2007, with Stephen Kramer Glickman in the title role, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Princess Fiona, Robert L. Daye, Jr. as Donkey and Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad.

The Musical (TV series)

The Musical (Hangul: 더 뮤지컬) is a 2011 South Korean television series starring Ku Hye-sun, Choi Daniel, Park Ki-woong, Ock Joo-hyun and Kim Eun-se. It aired on SBS from September 2 to December 23, 2011 on Fridays at 22:00 for 15 episodes.

Filming began in July 2010, and the series was pre-produced before airing. One of the location shoots took place in Broadway, New York City.

Synopsis

The series follows the lives of people in the world of musical theatre, showing the passion and dreams among the producers, songwriters and actors during a musical production. Go Eun-bi is a medical student who loves musicals, and her dream is to be a professional musical theatre actress. Hong Jae-yi was once one of the best composers in Korea, but he quit musical theatre and left the country after his girlfriend, musical theatre diva Bae Kang-hee broke up with him and married another man. When Jae-yi returns to Korea, he accidentally meets Eun-bi and decides to help her achieve her dream. Jae-yi believes that Eun-bi will become a better actress than Kang-hee, and thus their love triangle begins.

Lord Farquaad

Lord Farquaad is a main antagonist and the villain from the 2001 animated feature film, Shrek. He is voiced by John Lithgow. He does not appear in William Steig's picture book of the same name. Lithgow, Farquaad's voice actor, previously voiced another villain, Jean-Claude in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000).

Lord Farquaad in the Shrek films

Shrek

Lord Farquaad is the comically short-in-stature, ruthless ruler of Duloc. Several times in the film it is commented that, in his capital city Duloc's towering height, Farquaad may be compensating for something. His birthday is April 15.

In his pursuit of perfection, Farquaad attempts to rid his Kingdom of Fairy Tale creatures, offering a bounty for their capture and then exiling imprisoned creatures to Shrek's swamp. However, because Farquaad is not of royal stock, he cannot become a king until he marries a princess. He decides that Princess Fiona can be the perfect wife and queen, but she first must be rescued from her tower which is guarded by a fire-breathing dragon.