Lil Shop OBC

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:14pm

who was the original dentist?

[Mandi Moo]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:18pm

http://www.ibdb.com/

or http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm if you mean the original off Broadway cast.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:20pm

just wondering-my friend is going on an acting seminar trip to NYC and franc luz the original dentist is their tour guide

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:53pm

Franc Luz originated the roles of: Orin, Bernstein, Snip, Luce & Everyone Else in the 1982 original OFF-Broadway production.

Douglas Sills originated the roles of: Orin, Bernstein, Snip, Luce & Everyone Else in the 2003 original Broadway production.

LITTE SHOP OF HORRORS originated Off-Broadway -- it never appeared ON Broadway until 2003, so technically the 2003 Broadway production wasn't a revival since it never appeared on Broadway before this production.

[Dark_Angel]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:58pm

Yes it played The Orpheum in the East Village. I saw it numerous times there. I also remember the huge billboard atop the cigar shop on the corner of Christopher Street. Loved that cast and love that recording.

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 5:58pm

I saw a tour a couple years ago of Little Shop of Horrors, which I assume used the new staging and stuff from the 2003 production, and I really enjoyed it! I wonder why it wasn't very noticed at the tonys that year. It was nice for Hunter to get a nomination. Maybe they were confused about the "new vs. revival" thing, so they said "awww screw it!" Was it really that bad on broadway that it wouldn't get nominations?

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:01pm

"Maybe they were confused about the "new vs. revival" thing, so they said "awww screw it!" "

I think that's pretty much what happened.

I LOVED it on Broadway!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:13pm

I haven't seen another production of Little Shop of Horrors match the mix of camp and heart that Howard Ashman achieved in his original production. The intimacy and the crappy atmosphere of the Orpheum also added to the experience (not to mention the vines that dropped down on the audience at the end of the show). As much as the show was outlandish and ridiculous, I found myself surprised by how much I cared about Seymour and Audrey by the end.

The Broadway production, while slick, never quite engaged me in the same way. It was all cartoon, camp and schtick, and it didn't work on an emotional level the way the Off-Broadway snuck up on me.

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:15pm

I suppose I can't compare because I never saw the original production.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:39pm

" The Broadway production, while slick, never quite engaged me in the same way. It was all cartoon, camp and schtick, and it didn't work on an emotional level the way the Off-Broadway snuck up on me. "
I almost cried during the Somewhere That's Green reprise...

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 6:48pm

In the Off-Broadway version, the audience was silent at the "Somewhere That's Green" reprise. On Broadway, it got laughs, and I HATE when the audience laughs at it. Again, just different style, but Ashman's direction of the Off-Broadway production made a big difference for me.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:02pm

I saw the recent revival/ 2003 cast, whatever you wanna call it, and thought it was great.

For a while I was obsessed with the show, after seeing it. The cast was great, and I just adored the music and comedy that the show held.

[alliez92092]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:06pm

I love this show. I saw it on tour and it was fabulous. Tari Kelly was incredible as Audrey!

[sondhead]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:08pm

I saw the revival and have NOT seen the shot for Japanese TV broadcast of the original production and I gotta say.. the Off-Broadway production is definitely what that show is all about.. but I also loved the revival, which really speaks to the brilliantness of the source material.

And, to an earlier post, Howard Ashman didn't direct the original production if that's what you were insinuating. He DID, however, make the correct choice when he barred the production from transferring to Broadway as was a possibility after the Off-Broadway production was such a smash.

Someone should really find out who ever has the original print of the Japanese TV production and make it available for DVD, rusty edges and all. It's freaking brilliant. I tribute to a fabulous production of a fabulous show with a fabulous performer we never see these days (Marsha Skaggs-Waterbury)

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:10pm

Count me as another one who adored the original version at the Orpheum, but found the Broadway version flat, plastic, schticky, unfunny and uninvolving.

Updated On: 3/31/07 at 07:10 PM

[sondhead]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:17pm

Ya.. and it also forgot the whole crappy B-movie wonderfulness that was the essence of the original production and indeed the actual show itself.

And yet I still found it entertaining. I just really love that show.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:21pm

"In the Off-Broadway version, the audience was silent at the "Somewhere That's Green" reprise. On Broadway, it got laughs, and I HATE when the audience laughs at it."

I saw the tour last year and the same thing happened. I was like, this isn't funny, people! Audrey is dying, and this is a close as she's gonna get to being "somewhere that's green"! That's not funny, that's tragic! The ators played it pretty straight, too, so I don't know why people thought it was so funny.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:29pm

>And, to an earlier post, Howard Ashman didn't direct the original production if that's what you were insinuating.<

Howard Ashman is indeed credited as director for the original Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors.

[purpleprince101]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 9:01pm

i saw both and adored them. Ellen Greene and Kerry Butler were both amazing and it still to this day is one of my favorite shows.

[HollyImposter]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:01pm

The little shop everyone refers to the recording as the OBC was NOT on Broadway. It was Off-Broadway. Technically the Hunter-Kerry version was not a Broadway revival. That was it's first appearance on Broadway.

[James885]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:27pm

I remember when I saw the Little Shop tour year before last that people did laugh during the Somewhere That's Green reprise. That really struck me as weird, since it's supposed to be a serious moment when Audrey dies.

As for the revival, I enjoyed it very much. Though I never saw the original so I can't compare. I do remember Tari Kelly's performance stood out as being especially good. I will say that the plant itself looked very cartoonish, although I don't know if they intended it to come off that way.

[IAMmyownMUSICAL]

Posted: 4/1/07 at 3:57am

As someone who LOVES the show, and has been in it (Orin) I want to talk about the STG reprise (not trying to hijack the thread though). Yes it is a serious moment, and the music that goes with it is tragically beautiful. BUT, there is a line where she say's "I want YOU to feed me to the plant" and Seymour is supposed to have a WTF kinda moment when she says that. THAT is why the audience is laughing. I myself laugh at the line every time I perform or see it. It was always meant to be the ONE comical part in that tragic scene.

But with me, I both cry AND laugh during it. I guess its all in how the actors portray it, and how attached the audience feels.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 4/1/07 at 8:28am

^Definitely, it's heartbreaking and hilarious at the same time. I mean, some of the dialogue is so ridiculous that you can't help laughing ("When I die...which should be very shortly...") but I was almost crying during that scene in the Broadway "revival."

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/1/07 at 9:58am

Count me as another that wishes they would make the Japanese version available on DVD.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 4/1/07 at 2:06pm

I didn't see the off broadway show cause I wasn't born until 87 and then of course I was too young. I did see the movie and loved it and then I did see the revival, 5 times and loved that as well. The only time that I didn't care was when Joey Fatone joined the cast.