Little Shop of Horrors -Gen. Discussion — Page 2

I've always thought it would be a great idea to cast a female as Audrey II. Taking it to a further degree, I once saw a production where Audrey II was a Poison Ivy type - coming alive as a sexy plant woman whenever she was alone with Seymore.

I know, this sounds terrible - but it was actually brilliant (this production did it right) and there was sexual tension, almost a triangle between Seymore, and Audrey and Audrey II.

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I've always been curious about the bad reception the recent revival received. I love the cast recording and also very much enjoy Kerry Butler in it, so what gives?

To answer one question posed by the original poster, I did in fact see the Florida pre-Broadway tryout of the show with Hunter Foster and Alice Ripley. Alice's performance was basically an impersonation of Ellen Greene and she didn't really do as much to make the role her own. It was my first time seeing her live though, and I think she's a great performer.

I don't have a problem with Audrey II being voiced by a female such as Jennifer Holliday. I think that would work very well actually. It can't be any worse than Billy Porter's performance.

The recent London production had a very different design for Audrey II which made her look like an overgrown weed. I can't remember any other changes right now

As to why the recent Broadway revival had a bad reception, my guess is that audiences generally felt the show was too overblown, big and brassy when it should have been on a smaller scale and in a smaller theatre. I didn't get the chance to see Kerry Butler, but that wasn't as bad as having to sit through Joey Fatone as Seymour. The best part about the production was Audrey II. Huge kudos to Michael-Leon Woolley and Martin Robinson et al for an amazing performance that still is one of my favorite Broadway memories. The three urchins were quite wonderful as well. Overall it was greatly improved from it's pre-Broadway tryout and I still prefer the Broadway version of the show to the movie, so it worked fine for me!

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Whatever the problem was with the Broadway production -personally I loved it - it wasn't the cast. Hunter Foster, Douglas Sills and Kerry Butler were all great.

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In the production I saw, Audrey II was played by a woman and it was fantastic. I have seen this show a couple times, including the revival, and I STILL prefer a woman playing Audrey II. She was this black jazz singer, and she really brought this soul to it. It was so great.

I agree that Tari Kelly was the standout member of the tour cast. I haven't heard much about her lately. Wonder what she's doing?

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I accidentally caught the original off Broadway production opening weekend, as well as the opening weekends of the Broadway revival and the Florida version.
I adored the original with Ellen Greene! I'll never forget the finale as we lept to our feet cheering, and as the plant grew more menacing and began to step toward the audience, the ceiling over our seats opened causing green vines to cascade down to out shoulders, startling me. I'm so sorry I didn't grab one as a souveneir!
I agreed with a past responder, as much as I love Alice Ripley, it was a carbon copy. Glad I got the Playbill, however.
As for the revival, I enjoyed it more than let's say, the La Cage revival, but it was strangly distant, I'm sure due to the house. I did thoroughly enjoy the finale, when the plant threatened to engulf the few several rows in the orchestera. That was cool.

This show works great when it takes on the flavor of the original movie. Watch the original 1960 movie. I don't believe this show works well when it's a big, splashy production. Small, dark and campy make it fun.

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I agree with the poster who said the chemistry was a little off in the Florida tryout. Plus the costumes were quite horrendous and the Finale sequence was not quite right. I'm glad other people enjoyed the Broadway production and recent tour as well. I missed seeing Doug Sills as Orin et al. He's been robbed of the Tony a couple times it seems. I would like to see the Roger Corman film sometime as well, is it easy to find on Netflix or at Blockbuster.

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