Hit musical will creep into resort

Little Shop Of Horrors has been added to the programme for the Church Street theatre in the autumn, the Gazette can exclusively announce.

The show - billed as a ‘charming, kooky and hilarious 1950s musical sci-fi spoof’ - is one of several new additions to the brochure due to be announced in coming weeks.

The musical has music by hit composer Alan Menken - best known for the Disney movies The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast - and ran off-Broadway in New York for five years and 2,209 performances making it the highest-grossing production in Off-Broadway history.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning.

Andrew Howard, marketing manager at the Grand Theatre, said: “We expect demand to be high, so encourage people to get the best seats quickly when they goes on sale online on Friday at 10am - this is a highly anticipated and requested musical and we know Blackpool will love it.”

The new production is being brought to the stage by Sell-A-Door Theatre Company, which was responsible for the 2014 resort premiere of Avenue Q at the Grand.

The film adaptation of the stage show, starring Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, James Belushi, John Candy and Bill Murray, became a cult classic on its release in 1986, and features all the hit songs such as Suddenly Seymour, Somewhere That’s Green, Skid Row and the title track Little Shop Of Horrors.

In the story, down-trodden florist’s shop assistant Seymour Krelborn becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers a strange and exotic plant, which he names Audrey II in an attempt to impress glamorous Audrey, the colleague he’s secretly in love with. But the plant soon starts to wilt, putting Seymour’s job and dream future with Audrey at risk.

Accidentally pricking his finger, Seymour discovers Audrey II needs a little more than plant food to thrive. The plant grows into a bad-tempered, foul-mouthed carnivore whose voracious appetite becomes increasingly difficult to satisfy.

Andrew added: “How far will Seymour go for the woman of his dreams?”

* Little Shop Of Horrors, Grand Theatre, Blackpool, Tuesday to Saturday, November 22 to 26. Book online at www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk or call (01253) 290190 from 10am tomorrow.