Flowers for Mrs Harris - Crucible / Chichester

Yes it has. Joanna Riding will be playing Lady Dant and Mme. Colbert, the roles played by Rebecca Caine in Sheffield.

Flowers for Mrs. Harris - cast and creatives

(I usually like Joanna Riding, but Rebecca Caine was sublime in this.)

I praaaaaaaaay they do a cast recording!!! Even better a transfer into town.

It is absolutely wonderful. Whether it has enough commercial potential to sustain a run in the West End is another question, but it's certainly "in good enough shape". Clare Burt's performance is one for the ages, though, and I hope there'll at least be a recording.

Thanks for this, I hadn’t seen that section of the website. I like Joanna Riding but I don’t really find her to be the most suitable replacement in these particular roles.

I saw it in the last few days of the run in Sheffield. Even after very, very strong reviews, the theatre was only maybe two-thirds full. If it didn't sell out at the Crucible, it'll be an even tougher sell at West End prices.

The Crucible is a "totally different demographic"? Why? Because it's - shock! horror! - in the north?

Sunday in the Park with George was originally produced in this country at the National because it had basically no commercial prospects here despite an 18-month Broadway run. Which lost money. The National production did not transfer, and was not recorded. It was revived at the Menier on a shoestring budget.

Oslo originated in subsidised houses on both sides of the Atlantic and the West End transfer was a limited run. It arrived in London trailing a Tony Award and significant critical acclaim, and it deals with events that a good chunk of the potential audience will remember.

Passion lost money on Broadway. It ran six months in the West End, not to capacity houses, and it had a star - Michael Ball - whose name, even then, sold tickets.

Parade played a scheduled limited run at Lincoln Center and didn't extend, then played a scheduled limited run at the (subsidised) Donmar and didn't transfer.

Merrily ran sixteen performances on Broadway and had never been produced commercially since until the Menier did it - since it flopped on Broadway, it had only been produced in subsidised/nonprofit theatres. The West End transfer of the Menier production played a relatively short limited run; it didn't have a star, but Sondheim is a recognised "brand".

Flowers for Mrs. Harris is wonderful, but it doesn't have any kind of recognisable commercial hook. It isn't Sondheim, or any other writer people might have heard of. The source material spawned a (very bad) TV movie starring Angela Lansbury, but it isn't a familiar property in this country. Clare Burt gave one of the very best performances I have ever seen, but she is not the kind of name that sells tickets. The show does not have any kind of big takeaway tune that could be used to promote it, not that that's usually a viable commercial strategy these days. The same composer's The Go-Between did have a star and recognisable source material, and it limped along for about four months. Given how many discounts were available, I don't suppose it turned a profit.

Flowers.. could possibly work in a limited run somewhere like the Donmar, although it would need significant restaging to fit on the Donmar's stage, and not just because it uses a turntable. It's possible the numbers could be made to work for a shortish run somewhere like the Bridge, or - maybe better - somewhere like Hampstead. The show is very, very good indeed, and it does deserve to be seen - but the West End is a business, and it's very difficult to make a commercial case for it. If it didn't sell out at £20 in Sheffield, there's every chance it wouldn't sell out at up to £75 in a commercial run.

I saw on Twitter yesterday that Mark Meadows will reprise his role in the show as Albert Harris/Marquis de Chassagne and Claire Machin is playing Violet Butterfield, the role Anna-Jane Casey played in Sheffield.

Going to book on Wed as a double header with Copenhagen in September.

Hmmm. If only there was some way to find out?

I remember seeing the trailer for this a few years ago and was desperate to see it; so glad it's going to Chichester, sadly I won't get down there but hopefully it might get a little life elsewhere.

Imelda would've been sublime in this but I think the current cast looks beautiful too.

Loved,loved,loved this show when it was on in Sheffield and in fact went back to see it two weekends on the trot.Thank god for my senior citizen's railcard!So glad they seem to be getting most of the original cast back for Chichester with the addition of Joanna Riding!Shame Anna-Jane Casey is touring with Calendar Girls because she was also fantastic especially as a chain smoking world weary Parisian cleaner.Well worth a trip to Chichester if you can make it.But take a hankie. Still remember looking across at the Crucible audience opposite and one girl in particular was sobbing her heart out.

Thanks for the heads up. Booked this along with Copenhagen as a double show day.