Ticket tip - Little Shop of Horrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Please note that West End Whingers have moved to http://westendwhingers.wordpress.com. You are currently reading an old version of the site. Far be it from the West End Whingers - for whom every purchase of a theatre ticket is a triumph of optimism over experience - to predict hot tickets for the future, but the Menier Chocolate Factory has a track record of interesting productions (Sunday in the Park with George was excellent) and a very nice bar. So it's exciting to hear that the Menier is to revive Little Shop of Horrors (previews 17th November). The West End Whingers are both fortunate enough (or old enough, depending on how you look at it) to have seen Ellen Greene play Audrey in the original London stage production and, of course, in the excellent movie version. If Sheridan Smith's voice has half the power of Greene's this could be worth seeing. Let's just hope they haven't gone down the "Audrey couldn't really sing" route which has blighted so many Cabaret productions. The role of Seymour is taken by Paul Keating (he was in Tommy and nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for his performance in Closer to Heaven). Comedian Mike McShane (Whose Line is it Anyway) plays Audrey II. WEW know that they are almost certainly doomed to disappointment, but they are going anyway. At least they can be sure they will be able to have a good moan about the Menier's unallocated seating.