LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Broadway Revival Finale- Page 2

[morosco]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 7:17pm

[morosco]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:42pm

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:48pm

Are those folding chairs?

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:49pm

God my mind is going--it kinda looks phallic there :S

[morosco]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:49pm

Yes. Apparently this photo was taken when the show was out on the road.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:53pm

Connie Grappo directed the Florida production. She was Ashman's assistant on the original.

The cast:
Seymour Krelborn - Hunter Foster
Audrey - Alice Ripley
Mr. Mushnik - Lee Wilkoff (Grappo's husband)
Orin, Bernstein, Snip, Luce and everyone else - Reg Rogers
Ronnette - Haneefah Wood
Crystal - Dioni Michelle Collins
Chiffon - Moeisha McGill
Audrey II (voice) - Billy Porter
Audrey II (manipulation) - Martin P. Robinson
Prologue Voice - Robert Stack

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:53pm

that sounds so cool(the ending). i wish i could've seen it. too bad it closed SO soon.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:55pm

I would love to have heard Billy Porter take Audrey II to a whole new level (meaning, a whole new octave, or two).

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 6/2/07 at 11:56pm

Isn't Lee Wilkoff the original Seymour and isn't Martin P. Robinson the original Audrey II (manipulator)? Did Jerry replace both of them?

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 12:12am

(i think this is about as big as my scool's got.)

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 12:18am

I would have loved to see that cast.

~Steven

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 12:36am

i know, kerry butler and hunter foster together! sigh...

[wickedfan]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 12:53am

He's referring to the Florida production.

And yes, Zaks replaced ALL of them except for Foster. Big mistake, if you ask me.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/3/07 at 1:21am

Yes, I was referring to the Florida cast. After hearing about everyone dropping out one by one, I knew the show was going to crap. It's really too bad.

~Steven

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/25/09 at 4:54pm

Sorry for the bump, but I just got my hands on a recording of the Coral Gables tryout (audio only, so I can't judge the full performances), and I must say I think Lee Wilkof is a much better Mushnik than the disappointing Rob Bartlett. I guess they couldn't fire Grappo without losing her husband. No one will ever top Douglas Sills as Orin (not counting Steve Martin), but Alice Ripley seems to be doing a bad Ellen Greene impression. Maybe her performance could have grown (no pun intended) if they hadn't cleaned house so unnecessarily. Billy Porter has a very different take on Audrey II, but it works, and he's very powerful vocally.

Hunter Foster was great (especially live) but I'm wondering why they kept him on and fired everyone else associated with the production (even Crystal, Chiffon and Ronette)!

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 3/25/09 at 5:34pm

^ Alice Ripley dropped out because she was forced to do an Ellen Greene impression.

[jejr]

Posted: 3/25/09 at 11:29pm

Kerry Butler not sexy. What have some people been smoking? I saw her in Toronto in Beauty and the Beast - yes a Disney show - and she was very sexy in that. I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder.

[roseaddams]

Posted: 3/26/09 at 12:53am

Toby's right -- the plant extended into the audience during the Los Angeles stop of the tour. I think because they were here for six weeks they had the time to set it up properly because it never happened at any of the other stops that I saw.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/26/09 at 1:28am

Audrey II went out over the audience in San Diego. I thought they did that for all the tour stops?

[roseaddams]

Posted: 3/26/09 at 1:20pm

That's weird -- I don't remember seeing her do that when I saw it in San Diego. Maybe they were just having tech difficulties that night?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/26/09 at 1:36pm

Kerry Butler and Hunter Foster played their roles like two mildly retarded people. I don't think you have to do an Ellen Greene impersonation either, but bringing no sort of quirk to the character really just turns her into nothing more than a dumb, battered woman.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/26/09 at 2:42pm

That's weird -- I don't remember seeing her do that when I saw it in San Diego. Maybe they were just having tech difficulties that night?

Well, I do remember very vividly, the set coming forward and Audrey II extending out -- although how far I don't know.

[Tom's Cat]

Posted: 3/26/09 at 3:45pm

I was sitting in the second row, right orchestra, for the first Broadway preview performance. Not only did the pod's head swing out halfway to the mezzanine, but at the end the roots (or vines?) 'grew' out across the stage and onto the heads and shoulders of the people in the first row. I remember clearly having one of those 'root' ends staring me directly in front of my face before it was pulled back. Everybody that night LOVED it, but they had to stop it because later audiences complained of getting hit in the eyes with the roots. Then I heard that Audrey's head had to be held back a bit because they were afraid of losing control of it. It's really a shame because they were both terrific effects and great fun.

Updated On: 3/26/09 at 03:45 PM

[LadyDramaturg2]

Posted: 3/26/09 at 4:01pm

The machinery and undergirding supporting the plant's final swoops at the audience was pretty massive, so I'm sure that in some tour houses, the stage decks were not set up to handle it.

[sondheimfan2]

Posted: 3/26/09 at 5:40pm

Eric - I agree completely with your comments. I saw the original and the revival. The original looked like a "B" movie---which is the point of the satire. The revival was overblown, therefore, losing the charm of the original intention of the show.

The show is so much better when it's done on a small scale. I felt like the revival (especially the ending) was trying to compete with shows like Hairspray that feel the need to "wow" the audience before the leave the theater.

Updated On: 3/26/09 at 05:40 PM