Little Shop Fantasy Cast

[Steven9]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 12:23am

So, I am a huge lover of Little Shop of Horrors. The 2003 revival didn't really do justice to the original off- Broadway production. One of the main problems was the fact that the theatre was too big for a show that's supposed to be more intimate. So I had an idea that Roundabout should pick it up for a limited engagement revival at Studio 54, and I felt this cast would be perfect:

Seymour-Ben Platt

Audrey-Betsy Wolfe 

Mushnik-Danny Burstein

Orin-Andy Karl

Audrey II-James Monroe Iglehart (or Eddie Cooper from the City Center Encores! Production).

Obviously a fantasy, but still very exciting to think about, especially imagining Ben Platt and Betsy Wolfe singing Suddenly Seymour. 

Updated On: 7/5/17 at 12:23 AM

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 1:48am

I like both Ben and Betsy, but they are really mismatched in age. This is Ben's main problem right now. He is at the top of people's casting lists at a preternaturally young age. His peers have just graduated from college. He may have a few more years of teen characters ahead of him. He's still the age of the younger Newsies. 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 2:18am

Seymour: Ben Platt

Audrey: Annaleigh Ashford

Audrey Two: Chuck Cooper

I don't think he's too young for the part, especially if he were cast alongside someone like Annaleigh.  I mean Gyllenhaal and Greene had quite an age gap between them and it wasn't a problem.

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 2:25am

GeorgeandDot said: "Seymour: Ben Platt

Audrey: Annaleigh Ashford

Audrey Two: Chuck Cooper

I don't think he's too young for the part, especially if he were cast alongside someone like Annaleigh.  I mean Gyllenhaal and Greene had quite an age gap between them and it wasn't a problem.

 

"

Well, that's because Greene is famous for originating the role, if they cast a lesser known woman that was the same age, it would have been a bit strange.

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 2:53am

GeorgeandDot said: "Seymour: Ben Platt  Audrey: Annaleigh Ashford  Audrey Two: Chuck Cooper

I don't think he's too young for the part, especially if he were cast alongside someone like Annaleigh.  I mean Gyllenhaal and Greene had quite an age gap between them and it wasn't a problem."

I like that casting. Going back to the OP, I think Platt and Wolfe would each individually be great for those parts - just not together. Ashford is a better fit - though still older. 

And for me, Gyllenhaal and Greene didn't work at all. They didn't fit together, Jake was miscast, and Ellen was way to old. But it was a concert version, so you forgive a lot of that.

[StephieElise]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 4:13am

I think Ben Platt would be great as Seymour and I think he could also be able to pull off doing what Brent Hill in the recent Australian tour did and also sing Audrey II. It worked really well (I was sitting front row and didn't even pick that Brent was singing both parts until someone pointed it out to me at interval), but would take a special kind of performer to pull it off and I think Ben would be able to do it. 

Otherwise if they got a slightly older performer I'd love Megan Hilty to finally get the chance to play the role! 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 8:10am

I don't think I could improve on the Encores cast. 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 9:19am

I'd love to see Jake re-teamed with Annaleigh Ashford for it. That would kill. 

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 10:41am

StephieElise said: "...I think he could also be able to pull off doing what Brent Hill in the recent Australian tour did and also sing Audrey II...."

Kind of Little Shop meets Hand to God. I could see Ben doing that.

[RogerMoore]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 10:53am

Call me crazy, but I have no issue with a young man loving an older woman. The only hint of Audrey's age requirement I can think of is that she fantasizes about having children in Somewhere That's Green. To me, the whole character is even more poignant if she's 40+ 

also, there's a man-eating plant that sings, can't we suspend disbelief for just about anything? 

[Steven9]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 10:53am

HamilHansen said: "Seymour- Ben Platt

Audrey 2- James Monroe Iglehart or Michael James Scott

Orin- Rory O'Malley

 

"I still think Andy Karl would be a better choice for Orin. He is PERFECT for the role. I think he could get a Tony nom for it!

 

[Steven9]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 10:57am

I love Annaleigh, she would definitely be more age appropriate for Ben. But at the same time, Betsy doesn't look 35 to me. I also think Betsy is more the vocal type. They are both belters, but Betsy has the HUGE belt that Ellen Greene had. There's a video of her singing Suddenly Seymour with Darren Criss on YouTube, and it literally sends shivers down my spine. 

[Steven9]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 11:06am

Also, Ashford is 32 and Wolfe is 35. Only a 3 year age difference. I still stand by Wolfe.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 11:17am

Betsy would be an absolute dream, but what about Alison Luff???

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 11:19am

And Alison is much closer in age to Ben than Betsy and Annaleigh. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 11:48am

Isn't Seymour, like Hamlet, younger in popular understanding than he actually is in text or most performance? It's like a milder case of the "how old is Tobias Ragg" spectrum of possibility.

[coreman009]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 12:23pm

Seymour--Ben Platt

Audrey--Taylor Louderman

Mushnik--Danny Burstein 

Orin--Andy Karl

Audrey II--James Monroe Iglehart

[RogerMoore]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 12:27pm

Again, there's a man-eating plant that sings and we just can't believe that Ben Platt and Betsy Wolf can fall in love because of the 12 year age difference?

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 1:26pm

RogerMoore said: "Again, there's a man-eating plant that sings and we just can't believe that Ben Platt and Betsy Wolf can fall in love because of the 12 year age difference?"

Good point about the talking plant. My problem isn't about the number of years, it's about a teenager (which is all Ben has ever played because he looks younger than he is) romantically involved with a thirtysomething woman. Not that there's anything wrong with that - but that's a different story for me. A 30 year old Seymour and a 45 year old Audrey don't have the same cradle-robbing feeling to me. But that's just me.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 3:34pm

Emmy Rossum as any of the urchins. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 3:39pm

Apparently the Australian production characterized the urchins as NuYorican prostitutes instead of black high school dropouts.

[Steven9]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 6:38pm

Can anyone think of a Broadway name that has a huge belt and fits the Audrey character type that is closer to Ben's age? 

 

Cause tbh, Betsy Wolfe doesn't look 35. If I were to watch the show not knowing either of their age, I wouldn't really think that they have a huge age gap. 

 

As I said before, I think Annaleigh fits the character of Audrey, but not the vocal type. I honestly don't think Kerry Butler was the right vocal type. Both of them have the "Sutton Foster-esque" pingy mix belt. Audrey needs to have a HUGE belt, i.e Stephanie J. Block-esque. That was the whole thing that was great about Ellen Greene. She sang with a sweet mix throughout most of the show, and she just lets go in Suddenly Seymour with this magnanimous belt that sends shivers down your spine. 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 6:49pm

^If you saw Annaleigh in Sunday, you would see why she's the best choice for Audrey.  She's beautiful, funny, and has an incredibly strong voice.  She actually really reminds me of Ellen Greene.

I love Betsy Wolfe, but she's not enough of a strong character actress to pull of Audrey.  She'd be good, but Annaleigh would be significantly better in the role.

Anyways, I would actually love to see this in an intimate off Broadway house again.  I think it would be very successful and would probably run for quite a while.

[Steven9]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 7:08pm

I did see Annaleigh in Sunday, and she was wonderful. I think she fits the character, I just think her vocal type isn't Audrey. She's a strong singer, but she's not a big beltress. Her voice was PERFECT for Dot. Dot needs a nice strong mix. Audrey needs a huge almost rock belt (but not rock). I can see what you're saying about Betsy in a sense. 

[krystalyitzhak]

Posted: 7/5/17 at 7:20pm

Seymour- Adam Kantor

Audrey- Megan Hilty

I also love the idea of Andy Karl as Orin, I hadn't thought of that before!