[actor]

Has anyone else seen this yet? I just got back from the theatre - I literally just went to the theatre this morning and bought last-minute tickets (I only live 5 minutes away from the Sunderland Empire).

Anyway, let me start by saying the theatre was only 1/4 full - on a Saturday night! (and the venue can hold close to 3000). I dread to think what the audience must have been like on the matinee

Okay, the cast. Nadia Di Mambro, Cathryn Davis and Donna Hines (Chiffon, Crystal and Ronette) stole the show! Vocally they were stunning!
Sylvester McCoy (Mr. Mushnik)'s diction was TERRIBLE. I seriously couldn't understand a word. He is a good actor and singer though - if only he had sorted his diction out he would have done justice to the best role in the show! Oh and his accent slipped a few times.
Clare Buckfield (Audrey) actually surprised me. Usually I hate all this stunt-casting but she was quite good. Not great but decent.
Damian Humbley (Seymour) made Seymour a characature. I know Seymour is supposed to be a geek but Humbley made him seem at times as though Seymour had something wrong with him. It's an over-the-top character in an over-the-top show but try and at least make him human! He went into an annoying, squeaky, falsetto voice WAY too much. On the plus side his singing was good.
Alex Ferns (Orin) was good. He fell into the trap of "playing to the audience" a lot but I suppose that's appropriate for the Dentist.

Set, Costumes, Lighting and Orchestrations were all really good and I do recommend seeing the show if it is coming your way. Don't expect the best production of the show to date but it's well worth seeing.

Oh, and why does the plant look like a penis?

[jackissensational]

Was his diction poor due to the accent or would it have been just as bad if he didn't even use an accent?

[actor]

He would just mumble things or yell illegably. I missed half of Mushnik's lines.

[Tommie]

I saw this in Glasgow, and loved it! I think Damien Humbley was fantastic as Seymour - vulnerable, eccentric, and with a lot of the nervous energy and madness of the original black and white movie. All the characters in this show are weird and send ups of those old cheap, over the top sci-fi movie characters of the 50's and 60's, so they should never be too "real". I dont mean they should be playing for laughs or over the top, but rather just making more interesting and different acting choices and playing everything with bigger intention than they would if they were in Les Miz. I think everyone got this exactly right in this production, with the exception of Clare Buckfield as Audrey who just wasnt quite on the same level of hightened preformance as the others. She did a great job vocally and her acting was very true, but it just needed to make more interesting choices in her acting. Sylvestor McCoy was a great Mushnik for me. I saw it twice and heard it again on a live recording and i had no big problems with his diction at all, though his accent did slip a couple of times, but that didnt bother me at all.

I love the new plant design, its hilarious just looking at it, even before it speaks.

The theatre in glasgow was also pretty empty both times i saw it, but i believe that the tour has now exteneded, so it cant be that bad! I would encourage everyone to go see this. Its the best show i have seen in a while - icluding Wicked - and certianly the best touring show for a while.

[UKDeer42]

I've just seen this as well at the Manchester Opera House and I thought it was really brilliant! It's the first time I've seen the musical on stage and I have got to say it is MUCH better than the 80's film based on it, especially the ending which I really love - it did feel a bit like an anti climax but I always prefer a miserable ending to a happy one .

The production itself, I felt, was excellent. The cast did a really good job and played their parts really well, and yes Mambro, Davies and Hines did steal the show. They were fantastic! It really made me sad to think about how talented these girls were and yet the people who are regarded "stars" like the X-Factor winners are just so boring and untalented compared to them and yet are given a million times more fame and recognition. Oh well, that's the way things go, right? Just let the charts and the theatres be filled with another one of Mr Cowel's puppets singing and dancing to kareoke versions of our favourite tunes.

However I really thought the rest of the cast were brilliant as well especially, Alex Fernes who was hilarious as the dentist and did a great job with all his costume changes and reappearances, and Clive Rowe as Audery II. He was absolutely amazing and is such a great performer and what a voice! I've seen some of his work on TV and could never imagine he was such an amazing singer! I liked Hymbley as Seymour as well, though I did find his singing voice a bit whiney at times and was a tad weak when it came to comedic body language but he was outstanding during the more serious sences. It is really difficult to have to be comedic and serious at the same time so I thought he did tremendously well. I can't say about Buckfield's performance because we had an understudy (Lara Martin) as Audery, who has a great sense of comedic timing. However I'm not too sure either about McCoy's diction. I couldn't understand his lines for the first bit of the show (then again I can't understand what anyone says at the start of a show) but he did get better as he went along and his gestures and mannerisms were brilliant.

The rest of the production was just a great as well. The band was really impressive, especially how great the sound was from just two synths, drums, lead and bass guitar. The whole feel of the show visually was stunning and had a real retro feel to it. I especially loved the set design and how the shop and the dentist's office swung out on the Skid Road set and all the detail on it. The puppeter was really good, but as for it looking like a penis... I think you're getting a bit carried away with yourself there. The audience was always laughing whenever it spoke so it can't be all bad. It was a shame that only a few people came to see it because the 2000 seater theatre was only half filled on a Friday night performance but generally I'd say the audience was really good (speaking from my minimal experience is the acting field...)

Yeah I thought it was very good and do reccomend it when it comes your way.

[actor]

[Catherine]

I saw this a couple of weeks ago, absolutely loved it! But Cathryn Davies wasn't there, I saw the understudy. Clive Rowe was AMAZING. Seriously. I think he stole the show. Seymour kinda annoyed me aswell, although I loved Alex Ferns. I also loved the ending. But i'm glad they had the happy ending for the film, I don't think that ending would have worked on stage and I don't think the stage ending would have worked on film. Basically, I loved it.

[actor]

Who's Clive Rowe?

It's a shame you missed Catheryn Davis - vocally, she was the strongest in the cast.

[Catherine]

I think it was him, the voice of Audrey 2.

I know, I wish I had seen her, but to be honest, it was good luck I even got to see it, seeing as a noticed a poster the day before it closed, and we managed to get row 3 circle.

[Tommie]

Clive Rowe was the voice of the plant for most of the tour, but Mike McKshane from the London production did the glasgow shows. Mike sang it in the traditional way, sticking to the notes as written and he was great and very funny. Clive Rowe improvised all round the music and sang a lot of it up the octave which was great to hear too

[Mr Smee]

I'm off to see this at some point in September, to research my role as Mr Mushnik. I'm really looking forward to it

[Angel-of-Music*]

Damien Humbley irritated the life out of me. He made Seymour seem more like the hunchback of notre dame in character than a shy geek.

In general, the rest was really good. I loved alex ferns
I didnt like one of the Urchins, although i cant remember which one with my programme being at my dads house, but one of them was really nasal when she belted.. which is a huge pet hate of mine.

[smabi]

Wish I found this post when I actually saw the show!
I saw it when it came to the Manchester Opera House.
I really enjoyed it, and would of recommended it. Not sure about the comparison to the film. I adore both versions. Clare was fantastic! Really surprised me. I would of preferred the ending to be miserable, instead of comical, but it worked for me all the same.
I agree with Mushnik's diction was all over the place, but the parts I heard were still well acted.
Clive stole the show for me. What a voice!
Loved the show.