Alistair McGowan

Doing a musical is a bit of a departure for you, isn’t it?
Yes, sort of, though I’ve just done one at Stratford-upon-Avon, so that was the departure. I was in Merry Wives - the Musical, so although it’s not quite second nature to me yet, at least I warmed up for Little Shop of Horrors with that and got used to the idea of singing in front of a lot of people. But that was a very, very different sort of project to this.

Instead of co-starring with a plant you had Judi Dench, for one thing.
She’s so much one of the team that there was nothing nerve-wracking about being onstage with her. She was so welcoming and doesn’t play the star at all. But being at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre was very daunting. I remember having a completely dry mouth at the first preview. It’s a huge stage and a huge auditorium, and there’s so much history of great performances that have taken place in it. So it was a very moving experience being there. It had always been an ambition of mine. I used to go to Stratford as a child and then, as a student, I would also go to watch productions there. I remember on one trip, when I was about twenty, thinking it was a turning point for me when I realised I really wanted to become an actor. I wanted to be the next Roger Rees or Kenneth Branagh—but I became the next Mike Yarwood.

Which wasn’t a bad thing to be, either.
No, it established me, and it gave me an awful lot of pleasure, enjoyment and satisfaction. I had a wonderful time doing Big Impression—it was the realisation of a long dream. But going to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and being in the West End means that other dreams are being realised now, so it feels like a good time at the moment.

Alistair McGowan and Paul Keating in Little Shop of Horrors

You’re playing multiple characters again in Little Shop of Horrors. Was that part of the strategy for doing it?
There is no strategy—I do whatever comes along and seems appealing at the time. It was really the part of the dentist that appealed to me. I remember seeing the movie years ago and the impact that Steve Martin and the dentist character had. I used to listen to the soundtrack. But I didn’t even know that within the stage version it is customary for the dentist to play all these different parts in the second half, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Did you see it at the Menier? What was it like to take over in an already established production?
Yes, I did see it there, and it was very strange to be asked to take over. I was very tired from my time with the RSC when they approached me, but it was too good to turn down really. I knew about the Chocolate Factory and had seen Sunday in the Park with George, so I knew of their work and ambition and that they’re an impressive bunch. It put me in mind of a footballer signing to a Premier League team from abroad—you have to get up to speed with the rest of the team and fit in and make the part your own, but at the same time be one of them. They all made it very easy and were very welcoming, though I rehearsed a lot with the understudies and the resident director, and only for two or three days before the technical week with the actual cast themselves.

Did you know what you were letting yourself in for?
I hadn’t watched the film since I first saw it in 1988, but remembered it with great affection. I only saw the stage show once. But it was definitely a change after Merry Wives – the Musical. That was a difficult mix to perform and the reviewers, though not the general public, found it a difficult mix to watch. One minute we were doing Shakespeare’s speeches, and then lurching into quite modern-sounding songs, old-fashioned ballads and mock opera. We all enjoyed doing it very much and I thought it was very strong and had a great story. But it was a very draining show to be a part of—it was very long, and there was much more singing and dancing for me in it than here.

Are you fond of musicals?
There are some I don’t like at all, but that’s true of all of us. But I have some favourites, like Carousel. I’m not sue I could watch it again though, because I get so moved by it. I’ve always loved the songs in Kiss Me, Kate and I also love Hello, Dolly! The songs in that are just tremendous. We did quite a few musical numbers in Big Impression over the years, like “Rainbow High” from Evita as David Beckham, and “On the Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady as Dot Cotton.

[AD]How did you come to return to Chichester in 2005?
I’d worked at Nottingham Playhouse in 1999 with the director Martin Duncan, and we’d always wanted to work together again. He was then artistic director at Chichester, and I’d just finished the Big Impression series so it was the first time I’d had to do anything and he offered me the title role in The Government Inspector, which was too good a part and too good a play and too good a director and too good a theatre to even think of turning it down. It was a wonderful time and there was a very special atmosphere there.

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Sheridan Smith

How does it feel to be in the West End with this production, given the huge success it enjoyed over the winter at the Menier?
It actually really fits well into the space at the Duke of York’s. The stage is a lot narrower than the Chocolate Factory, so it looks more like an alley, and lots of extra things have been added—camped up a bit, really. It’s still worth coming to see it; the show’s definitely changed, and they’ve done the plant differently, too. We all look really tiny next to it, which is really strange. I think maybe it’s a bit better than at the Chocolate Factory

This must be the heftiest commitment you’ve yet made to a theatre run.
Yeah, I’m here till September. I’ve done shows which were, say, four months over Christmas, but I haven’t done a musical for eight years. At 17, there I was this northerner doing Sondheim at the Donmar with a cast where all 12 of us women were in one dressing room—from me, 17!, to Dilys Laye and Sheila Reid. They just taught me so much, and I had an absolute ball, really.

Had you by that point planned a career in musicals?
I wasn’t really sure. I had planned to move back up north after Bugsy Malone when an agent saw me in that and took me on. The thing is, with every job, it’s like I can’t really believe I got this, so I was kind of just thrilled about whatever job came my way. Then the telly came along (after Into the Woods), and I kept singing in the shower and thought that was it.

Sheridan Smith and Paul Keating in Little Shop of Horrors

Until Audrey.
Yes. Luckily, I knew this show and had grown up watching the film and said to my boyfriend the week before [the job prospect], I would so love to play Audrey. It’s such a dream part. A week later, my agent called and said the Menier’s doing it, and no way on earth did I think I’d get it. But a friend went through all the music with me. I’m so thrilled they had the faith in me and worked with me.

Was it nerve-wracking?
I had to face my fears doing this show. I’d sung with my parents’ country-and-western act from an early age, but I didn’t know how you did that head voice, and I got away with it in Bugsy Malone doing Tallulah and the one song that Riding Hood has in Into the Woods. But I was like a nervous rabbit in the headlights when we first started, and hopefully I’ve got more confident now that we’re four months in. But the cast is so amazing—they’re all trained singers, and I don’t even read music. I was intimidated at first, but I’m loving it now.

So the West End transfer was a no-brainer?
I’d kind of planned for this one. I thought, oh my God, you can’t afford not to go. I’d grown so fond of the character and the show and the people, both cast and crew. And I’m back in the West End!

[AD]How did you handle the lingering spectre of Ellen Greene?
She is Audrey. She created that part, and her interpretation was just so brilliant. I mean, everyone thinks of her when they talk of the show. But I kind of wanted to do something a little bit different, which is where we came up with the glasses. I bow down to Ellen Greene, but I can’t be Ellen Greene. You have to make it your own.

I love the fact that you play for real someone whom it would be easy to caricature.
The thing is, it’s such a fluffy musical with a talking, man-eating plant, but it’s got real heart. It’s a love story, too, with a woman at its centre who’s been knocked about. People think of it as just a stupid, camp musical, but it tells a really sweet story: the nerd gets the girl—although I think I’m the nerdy one with the glasses. I’m always saying to [co-star] Paul [Keating], “You’re too gorgeous!” I do think this production has real heart.

Sheridan Smith and Paul Keating in Little Shop of Horrors

How did you devise your portrayal of Audrey, the glasses aside?
The director, Matthew White, did a lot of improvisation to come up with our back stories—we improvised me meeting the dentist or me working the nightclub. At first, I thought, this is so embarrassing, but I kind of found the character just through doing that. And Matthew would rein me in if I went a bit too camp—[Laughs.] though I’m sure at times I do a bit too much.

What did you sing at the audition?
I did “Somewhere That’s Green,” of course and did it like this big showy version, though in fact I just don’t see it as that type of show. You need to feel you’re part of this little world of Skid Row.

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