Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s musical will open at the New Wolsey Theatre from 1 to Sat 23 March 2024, before heading to Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake (27 March to 20 April), Octagon Theatre Bolton (24 April to 18 May) and Hull Truck Theatre (22 May to 8 June).
Casting has now been confirmed for the upcoming revival of the cult musical, in a new production co-produced by Octagon Theatre Bolton, New Wolsey Theatre, Theatre by the Lake and Hull Truck Theatre and is directed by Lotte Wakeham.
The cast of nine is led by Laura Jane Matthewson (Romantics Anonymous) and Oliver Mawdsley (Boys from the Blackstuff) as Audrey and Seymour respectively, with Anton Stephans (Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical, The Lion King) voicing the role of Audrey II. Joining them are Matthew Ganley (One Man, Two Guvnors) as Orin, Matthew Heywood (The Book Thief) as Derelict, Janna May (The Museum of Marvellous Things) as Chiffon, Zweyla Mitchell Dos Santos (The Hypochondriac) as Crystal, Chardai Shaw (Protest, Poetry, Peace and Song) as Ronnette and Andrew Whitehead (The Book Thief) as Mr Mushnik.
Downtown on Skid Row, weedy flower shop assistant Seymour is down on his luck until he stumbles across a mysterious new plant with killer potential. Fame and fortune follow but will this win the attention of the girl of his dreams, or will the insatiable appetite of his carnivorous plant get out of control?!
Director Lotte Wakeham said: “I am so excited to be bringing Little Shop of Horrors to audiences later this year. We have been wanting to stage this production at the Octagon for a number of years now, and jumped at the chance when the rights became available. It has such an iconic score with memorable and brilliantly feel-good songs, and to stage the show with a company of immensely talented actor-musicians performing all the music live on stage will sound absolutely incredible. It is fantastic to be partnering with three other wonderful regional producing theatres to ensure even more people across the country get to enjoy this classic cult musical.”
Meanwhile, the creative team behind this revival includes: TK Hay (set and costume design), Nic Farman (lighting design), James Cook (sound design), Gabrielle Ball (musical direction), Sundeep Sani (movement direction), George Strickland (musical supervision), Michael Fowkes (puppet direction and design), and Su Newell (costume supervision). The assistant designer is Ania Levy, while Anna Pool serves as associate director and Jack Clearwater as assistant director.
To find out more, visit each venue’s website.