Little Shop of Horrors musical revival reveals cast

Exclusive: Casting is now confirmed for the upcoming revival of Little Shop of Horrors, touring venues across England this spring.

Alan Menken (Sister Act) and Howard Ashman’s (The Little Mermaid) cult sci-fi musical follows the misadventures of flower shop assistant Seymour, the girl of his dreams, Audrey, and a giant, bloodthirsty plant. It is based on the 1960 film, directed by Roger Corman and written by Charles Griffith and features such standards as “Somewhere That’s Green” and “Suddenly, Seymour”.

The new staging, co-produced by Octagon Theatre Bolton, New Wolsey Theatre, Theatre by the Lake and Hull Truck Theatre, will feature a company of nine performers, including actor-musicians.

It will be 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, Tarantino Live) voicing the role of Audrey II.

The cast is completed by 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.

Director Lotte Wakeham commented: “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.”

The creative team 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.

Little Shop of Horrors will open at 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).

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