Little Shop of Horrors

The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 dark comedy/horror film produced by Roger Corman, later adapted as a stage musical and then a 1986 musical film and a 1991 animated television series Little Shop.

1982 Off-Broadway musical

[[Image: LittleShopAlbum.jpg|thumb|left|260px|1982 Cast Album of the original off-Broadway production of "Little Shop of Horrors."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ORIGINAL OFF-BROADWAY CAST:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Seymour Krelborn - Lee WIlkoff

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Audrey - Ellen Greene

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mr. Mushnik - Hy Anzell

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chiffon - Marlene Danielle

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Crystal - Jennifer Leigh Warren

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ronnette - Sheila Kay Davis

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Audrey II (voice) - Ron Taylor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Audrey II (manipulation) - Martin P. Robinson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Orin, Bernstein, Snip, Luce and everyone else - Franc Luz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

LIST OF MUSICAL NUMBERS:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ACT ONE

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Prologue/Little Shop of Horrors" (Chiffon, Crystal, Ronnette)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Skid Row (Downtown)" (Company)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Da-Doo" (Seymour, Chiffon, Crystal, Ronnette)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Grow for Me" (Seymour)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"WSKID" (incidental music)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Ya Never Know" (Chiffon, Crystal, Ronnette)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Somewhere That's Green" (Audrey)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Closed for Renovation" (Seymour, Audrey)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Dentist!" (Orin)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Mushnik & Son" (Mushnik, Seymour)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Feed Me (Git It)" (Audrey II, Seymour)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Now (It's Just the Gas)" (Orin, Seymour)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Act I Finale"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ACT TWO

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Entr'acte"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Call Back in the Morning" (Seymour, Audrey)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Suddenly, Seymour" (Seymour, Audrey)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Suppertime" (Audrey II)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"The Meek Shall Inherit" (Chiffon, Crystal, Ronnette)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Sominex/Suppertime II" (Audrey, Audrey II)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Somewhere That's Green" (reprise) (Audrey)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Bigger Than Hula-Hoops" (underscoring)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Finale Ultimo (Don't Feed the Plants)" (Company)]]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1982, the film was adapted for the stage by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, who later went on to write songs for Disney's The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Four songs, which appear in the 2003 Broadway original cast recording as bonus material, were removed from the show itself: "A Little Dental Music", "The Worse He Treats Me", "We'll Have Tomorrow", and "I Found A Hobby".

Related Topics:
Alan Menken - Howard Ashman - Disney - The Little Mermaid - Beauty and the Beast - Aladdin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Titled "Little Shop of Horrors," the musical had its world premiere on May 6, 1982 at the WPA Theatre. It opened off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre on July 27, 1982. When it closed, after 2,209 performances, it was the third-longest running musical and the highest-grossing production in off-Broadway history.

Related Topics:
WPA - Off-Broadway - Orpheum Theatre - July 27 - 1982

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The original production, directed by Ashman, was critically acclaimed and won several awards including the 1982-1983 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the London Evening Standard Award for Best Musical.

Related Topics:
New York Drama Critics Circle Award - Drama Desk Award - Outer Critics Circle Award - London Evening Standard Award

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The score, composed by Menken in the style of 1960's rock and roll, doo-wop and early Motown, included several show-stoppers including "Skid Row (Downtown)," "Somewhere That's Green," and "Suddenly Seymour," as well as the title song.

Related Topics:
Rock and roll - Doo-wop - Motown

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The musical is faithful to the comic tone of the film, although it makes a few slight changes to the story. The setting is moved from Skid Row in Los Angeles to Skid Row in New York. Seymour's hypochondriac Jewish mother is omitted and Seymour becomes an orphan. Also dropped is the subplot involving the two investigating cops as well as the character of the gleefully masochistic dental patient (played in the original film by Jack Nicholson). The musical does introduce three new characters: a Greek chorus of female black street urchins named Crystal, Chiffon and Ronnette, named after famous 1960s girl groups. The evil plant, now called Audrey II, has been changed from a strange breed of Venus Fly Trap to a creature from outer space. It was brought to life through a series of elaborate puppets, some of which were life-sized.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles - New York - Jack Nicholson - Greek chorus - Puppets

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In addition to the off-Broadway production, the musical has been performed all over the world including productions in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hungary, Spain, and Germany. Because of its small cast and relatively simple orchestrations, it has recently become popular with community theatre and high school groups.

Related Topics:
Community theatre - High school

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An original cast recording, released in 1982, omits the songs "Closed for Renovations" and "Call Back in the Morning" as well as the underscoring and incidental music "WSKID," "Entr'acte" and "Bigger Than Hula-Hoops." This recording features Leilani Jones, who replaced Marlene Danielle as Chiffon two weeks after the musical opened.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~