Whoopi Goldberg is to reprise her role in Sister Act when the hit musical returns to the West End next year.
The musical is based on the 1992 film of the same name, which earned Goldberg her third Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of Deloris Van Cartier, a singer who hides in a convent after witnessing a murder.
The stage production, which opens at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith for a limited run next July, will see Goldberg star opposite Jennifer Saunders, who will play Mother Superior.
“Yes, the original Deloris is back,” Goldberg said in a promotional video. “A little older, a little seasoned, but really still kind of out there.”
Saunders, best known as the star of Absolutely Fabulous and one half of the comedy duo French and Saunders, said she thought the show “could be the event of the century”.
The musical will feature an original score by the eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, best known for his work on Disney films, including The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
While fans expressed excitement online, many criticised the high cost of tickets, which range from £29 up to £249.
Rachel Gilbey, 35, said she was an avid musical theatre fan and excited about the casting, but that ticket prices made the show inaccessible.
Gilbey, who is short-sighted and not very tall, said she books seats in the first few rows of theatres to avoid her view being blocked. For Sister Act, theses seats will cost more than £170.
“It seems incredibly expensive,” she said. “This summer I saw the new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with Jason Donovan and should have been Sheridan Smith, and that was row B stalls for only £85.”
The theatre blogger Beyond the Curtain described the announcement as “wonderful”, but said the ticket prices were “so disappointing”. “£41.25 alone for the back row (row Z) of the circle. Pricing audiences out. Makes me sad,” he tweeted.
Charles Thomson, a 31-year-old freelance writer, said he and his friends were reconsidering their plans to attend the show because of the “exorbitant price”.
“This is sadly part of a growing trend in London theatre,” he said. “A lot of fans are being priced out of shows and the inevitable result will be that theatre is increasingly only accessible to the elite, which is a travesty.”
Performances run from 29 July to 30 August 2020.
