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Wood & Walters Launch Acorn with £65 Top SeatsDate: 2 December 2004
Julie Walters and Victoria Wood (pictured) were at the West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket this morning to launch Woods’ debut musical, Acorn Antiques, based on her 1980s TV series of the same name. The £2 million show opens at the Haymarket on 9 February 2005 (previews from 31 January).
Contrary to earlier reports (See News, 26 Nov 2004), the show will run for an open-ended rather than a limited season, although the initial booking period is set for six weeks and Walters, who reprises her starring TV role as Mrs Overall, is contracted for 16 weeks only. She will be replaced by another, as yet unannounced, big name, a casting process that, at this morning’s press conference, Woods likened to “the hunt for the new Scarlet O’Hara”.
In the meantime, Walters will perform only six performances a week. The stage version of Acorn Antiques marks the actress’ first-ever musical and, though Wood joked that Walters would have Monday nights and Wednesday matinees off for bingo, she added that, “Eight shows a week to sing and dance is a big undertaking”, especially as Walters is a musical novice. The reduced schedule is “to save her voice and energy.”
Wood herself will step into the role of Mrs Overall in Walters’ absence. She said today that though “it was never my intention to be in it” (the show), she decided that “rather than bringing on a poor understudy to groans of disappointment”, performing as the alternate herself seemed like “a good way of hopefully pleasing audiences”.
Wood advised that “one should see Julie (in the role) because she is Mrs Overall…. I’m just going to copy her. It’ll be her performance done by me. Possibly I’ll wear a different pinny.” When one journalist questioned whether some theatregoers may be disappointed by missing either Wood or Walters, the latter suggested “they can go twice, can’t they?”.
Raising the price barrier
The main obstacle to that, however, may well be the price point. Acorn Antiques has raised the bar for the West End’s highest ever ticket prices. From Mondays to Thursdays, top price seats in the stalls and royal circle will be set at £55. On weekends, including Saturday matinees, that rises to £65, with booking fees taking the cost to over £70 per person. The cheapest seats, in the gallery, are £27.50 at weekends and £25 midweek.
Paul Roberts from the show’s producer Phil McIntyre Promotions, admitted to Whatsonstage.com that Acorn Antiques is an expensive ticket – “there’s no point in pretending otherwise”. Roberts explained that they’d been negotiating for a bigger, more traditional musical house. Had the show been at the Palladium, he said, they could have charged a maximum of £49.50. However, at the 888-seat Haymarket, “simple economics” means they must “reluctantly” inflate prices. In fact, he said, they argued internally about raising stakes even higher – to £75 per ticket – but Wood vetoed that hike.
Though, when Phil McIntyre previously set the trend for record prices with We Will Rock You weekend rates at £50 (See News, 28 Jan 2003), other shows followed suit, Roberts says he doesn’t believe the Acorn Antiques pricing will signal a new West End wave of increases. He told Whatsonstage.com, “You can only charge that ticket price (£65) in a small venue with those names.” He added, “I don’t think people will come out (of Acorn Antiques) wanting their money back.”
Other stars in the 22-strong Acorn Antiques cast include (See Today’s Other News): Celia Imrie and Duncan Preston, reprising their roles as Miss Babs and Mr Clifford from the original TV show; Neil Morrissey, playing a pretentious Midlands-based theatre director; Josie Lawrence; and Sally Ann Triplett, playing Miss Berta, the role played by Woods on television. The production is directed by Trevor Nunn and designed by Stephen Brimson-Lewis.
- by Terri Paddock
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