Who doesn’t like a love story – especially one with flesh-eating
plants? Little Shop of Horrors is coming to the Frank Guaracini Jr. Theater at Cumberland County College in April – the 16th
through the 19th, to be exact.
Deborah Bradshaw and company, the same people who brought Les
Misérables and August Osage County to the Guaracini
Theater are bringing Seymour and Audrey II to life on the stage once more. Click right here for their Facebook page and
more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1521309061459752/.
In 1960 a filmmaker named Rodger Corman shot a darkly
comedic movie called, Little Shop of
Horrors. It had some strange and
wonderful things going for it. There was
a flower shop made up from left over sets, a little known young actor named
Jack Nicholson in a small role, and a man-eating plant named Audrey Jr. The plot revolves around a man, Seymour, who
works in a florist shop who accidentally becomes the caretaker of a plant that
demands to be fed human flesh. Initially,
the movie had some problems getting distribution but it eventually found its
footing and it became a cult classic – the kind of film that would come on
after the 11:00 o’clock news and play on until the early morning. It turns out Little Shop had feet. In an interview in 1995 with M.J. Simpson,
Corman said, “I shot Little Shop of Horrors in two days
and a night for about $30,000, and the picture has lasted all these years.”
In 1982 the story was adapted into a
musical by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
It started on Off-Off-Broadway and then it hit. There was a Broadway run, a UK run at the
West End Theater in London, a US and a UK tour.
There were some changes between the original film and the musical. There was now a more salient love story,
Nicholson’s role was gone, and Audrey II (not Audrey Jr.) was not simply a
plant that wanted flesh and blood for sustenance – she was now a space pod
alien bent on world domination! The
catchy musical numbers and strange story where, in some productions, members of
the audience were eaten struck a chord and it became very popular in Europe and
America. It still is and theater
companies continue to make magic with the show.
In 1986, Frank Oz directed the film
version of Little Shop of Horrors. It
combined elements from both the original film and the musical. Rick Moranis played Seymour, Ellen Greene as
Audrey, Steve Martin played the sadistic dentist and Bill Murray was his happily
masochistic patient. The movie, after
being set before test audiences who didn’t get it, had its ending changed. Now there were two endings – the happy
Hollywood ending where Seymour and Audrey live happily ever after and the
ending that was more akin to the 1982 musical where Audrey II takes over the
world. The original ending was restored
to the film in 2012.
With all of these different ways to
enjoy Little Shop what way is the
best? Well, that would have to be intimately and in a theater. In April, you will have the chance to do just
that. Show dates are the 16th
through the 19th and you can get tickets right here: http://click4tix.com/gpac/.
If you see only one show about a
man-eating plant from another world this year make this the one!
See you at the Guaracini Theater in
April.