On July 26, Little Shop of Horrors' original "Audrey", Ellen Greene, returned to the stage in the West End run of Betwixt! at Trafalgar Studios. Betwixt! is a musical comedy conceived and written by Ian McFarlane. The show premiered in The King's Head Theatre London on 6 May 2008 and finished its first run on 22 June 2008. This Trafalgar Studios production will run through August 20, 2011. The first production shots have been released and appear below!
In modern day New York, writer Bailey - suffering writer's block - and his roommate Cooper Fitzgerald are catapulted head first into a strange enchanted world. Their arrival fulfils a prophecy that tells of a brave hero and a great queen and they are tasked with searching out a fading daytime TV star who is the only hope for saving a pregnant princess from losing the throne... Sex-crazed nymphs, hunchbacks, cross-dressing mutes, dancing reporters, enchantresses (of the evil-world-dominating variety) and a disembodied head with a Bavarian accent are teamed with sitcom-styled dialogue and a toe-tapping score in a truly funny musical comedy.
West End Producer Christopher D. Clegg has brought the musical back to London in a new production that features several new songs, with direction by Ian McFarlane.
Actress, singer and recording artist Ellen Greene last performed in London at the New Players Theatre in her cabaret show ‘Torch!', accompanied by her husband and musical director, Christian Klikovits.
She played Sylar's mother, Virginia Grey in the sci-fi TV series, ‘Heroes' and the cheese-loving Vivian, one of the Darling Mermaid Darlings, in two series of the critically praised TV series "Pushing Daisies."
Her theatre roles include ‘The Prince and the Aviator' with Michael York, and ‘Three Men On a Horse' with Tony Randall, Jack Klugman and Jerry Stiller an Broadway and playing Miss Adelaide in a concert version of the Broadway musical ‘Guys and Dolls', at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, in 2009. As Chrissy in Joe Papp's production of ‘In the Boom Boom Room', her reviews brought her to the attention of Paul Mazursky who was at that time casting for ‘Next Stop, Greenwich Village'; she got the role of Sarah, her first starring role in a film. Continuing her work with Joe Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, Greene starred as Jenny in ‘The Three Penny Opera' at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in Lincoln Center, and was nominated for a Tony Award. She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in ‘Little Shop of Horrors'. Greene was also honoured to perform for the Queen in the Cameron Mackintosh salute, ‘Hey, Mr. Producer'.
For tickets and more information, visit www.betwixtmusical.com.
Photo Credit: Marilyn Kingwill
Ellen Green and Benedict Salter
Ellen Greene and Peter Duncan
Steven Webb, Benedict Salter and Ashleigh Gray
Ellen Greene and Benedict Salter
