Acorn Antiques has become a cult favourite since it first appeared on television in 1985 as a sketch in Victoria Wood's As Seen On TV. The show also starred Julie Walters, Celia Imrie and Duncan Preston.
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Originally conceived as a spoof of Crossroads, the musical version (also written by Wood) tells the story of Miss Babbs' struggle to keep the shop open and the threat posed by The Guilty Bean coffee shop chain. Victoria Wood reveals more in this interview: As director, do you enjoy laying down the rules?
 | | Acorn Antiques, 麻豆官网首页入口 TV 1980s |
VW: It's not really about that - it's about casting them, getting them together on a stage and getting them to the end of it really.听I've always loved musicals and I thought Acorn Antiques would look good on a poster!听It was originally only a sketch in a larger show, but I did keep revisiting it and I like the fact that people can remember it.听I did also write a politically-correct version where everyone was a lesbian or black or in a wheelchair. So was Mrs Overall based on Noel Gordon from Crossroads? VW: No, if it was based on anyone, it was based on Amy Turtle or Mrs Mac from Take The High Road.听It was a homage to Crossroads but also to a terrible radio series called Waggoners Walk which was on then. So how hard was it to transfer to the stage? | "It's all the same to me as long as the audience like it.听Bring your macaroons." | | Victoria Wood |
VW: Well I had to pinch myself when Trevor Nunn was trying to demonstrate how Mrs Overall should work. It had a limited-season in the West End and the critics liked it and it sold out.听Usually things are tested out in the provinces and then move to London but we're doing it the other way round.听If that goes well, I'll take it to the amateurs! I've rewritten it slightly since the London show.听It starts with a street scene of all the High Street shops from a drapers to a piercing parlour.听While it wouldn't be true to say that Mrs Overall was rooted in reality, the musical audience becomes very fond of her and it has got a little bit of heart in it. Where do you want to take Acorn Antiques?
 | | Acorn Antiques: The Musical |
VW:听 It's a better show than when it was in the West End. I'm just really happy that it's on the road.听I don't want to do the acting myself, not even in the London run.听It's all the same to me as long as the audience like it.听Bring your macaroons. Acorn Antiques is at the Liverpool Empire, Monday March 12 to Saturday March 17 2007. | 
