You think there should be a Little Shop Of Horrors revival?- Page 2

[sondhead]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:03am

"As the last revival proved, staying faithful to the original material didn't work (as shown by the original production in Florida)."

Are you kidding me? This is one of the most uneducated comments I have ever seen on this board. The florida production was by no means a re-mount of the original. Material wise it was barely different from the version that played Broadway. The difference was in casting and costumes mainly.

It also shows you have not seen any kind of good regional productions of the show. That script/score is one of the best in the genre and holds up perfectly just as it is licensed.

If anything, the biggest complaint on the revival was its departure from the feeling of the original production!

As for the revival, I thought it made just about every wrong choice possible (except for the casting of Hunter Foster) and yet was still pretty enjoyable which only speaks to the excellent quality of the original work.

[alterego]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:08am

Definetly not, as someone said it was only two years since the last production. LSH was a small Off Broadway show that did well in the 1980's. If it is ever done again in NY that is the scale and place for it. It was never a big show.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:38am

It is definitely too early for another revival, but count me as one who thought that the recent production was not that bad, and quite enjoyable actually. There were certainly problems, but I thought that the energy and puppetry made up for it. And you can hardly go wrong with that incredible score!

[shiz_student94]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 10:38am

I agree it is too soon for another revival. Yet, I did love the last revival. I am guilty of seeing it twice...

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 11:46am

Shame you guys didnt get to see the London production in the late 80s. Perfect.
The last Broadway production was way too big and the show lost a lot of its soul. Why did it have to be so big?

[groovy-hoover]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 12:48pm

The production last year in London was excellent. I saw it before it transferred to the West End, at the Menier Chocolate Factory, and the setting and intimacy of the venue was perfect. The show was faithful to the original incarnations - none of the script was changed, but the humour was updated and the actors were so talented that they incorporated excellent character traits and funny bits that aren't in the stage directions. It didn't run for long enough, in my opinion.

Little Shop is such a good show, yet never runs for very long, guess it's difficult to market!

P.S - Sheridan Smith was phenomenal as Audrey, Ellen Greene (as much as I used to like her), admittedly sound like she's trying to blow her nose when she sings high. Her voice changes completely. I was completely put off by her after seeing the Cameron Mackintosh concert DVD. She sounded AWFUL.

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:05pm

I was watching the off-Broadway production, and was wondering why the urchins have the x-ray glasses and the big book in the beginning of the show? Does anyone know the importance of them?

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:31pm

The revival was too slick and had no heart. All the actors are AMAZING performers, but weren't able to capture the sweetness that's necessary to rope you in. And while the plant was amazing to watch, I thought it was one of the things that sort of destroyed the show. The source material is B-grade horror and everything about the piece has to feel like that or it doesn't work. I'm a HUGE fan of the piece and was extremely excited about the Broadway mounting, but left feeling somewhat empty.

And anyone who doesn't like Ellen Greene in this role needs to see her perform some of the songs live. I was at her concert at Joe's Pub a few years ago and she was AMAZING in everything she did. What makes her so incredible as Audrey is that she BECOMES a real, live, breathing embodiment of her. She really has you in the palm of your hand!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:38pm

If you saw the tour, then you did see the revival. There were only MINOR differences between the production in NY and the tour. Mainly the big bloody letters. They, and the giant drips of rolling blood that you saw in NY, was a painted drop on the tour.

That was about the only difference I remember.


And yes, it's WAY too soon to re-mount it.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:55pm

The original, in the little theatre next to CBGBs was a masterpiece. Ellen Greene was a gift from the theatrical Gods. The staging was superb. Every other bloated version is the suck.

[Magical_Ms._Mistoffeles_72]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:57pm

I never saw it
maybe cause Im canadian
but if they shoot for a summer revival I will be able to see it!
:)

[sondhead]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:41pm

"Little Shop is such a good show, yet never runs for very long, guess it's difficult to market!"

How about the original production? It ran 5 1/2 years.

"P.S - Sheridan Smith was phenomenal as Audrey, Ellen Greene (as much as I used to like her), admittedly sound like she's trying to blow her nose when she sings high. Her voice changes completely. I was completely put off by her after seeing the Cameron Mackintosh concert DVD. She sounded AWFUL."

Get the original Off-Broadway CD. She's pretty much pure power belting there. It's phenomenal. I think the more she did the role the more she was encouraged to play up the "voice" and especially in the singing it really made the quality decrease.

And for the person asking about the 3D comic book, two notes. That's not the Off-Broadway production. That is a production that toured Japan in 86 or 87 (hence the Japanese location said in the finale instead of New York). It's pretty close to what played New York and does feature the original plant, but other things had to be adapted and it was not a re-creation of Howard Ashman's direction or the original choreography.

Regardless, I have always loved the 3D comic book. It is SUCH a kitschy campy 60's reference that just perfectly sets up the tone of the rest of the show.

And while we're talking about excellent Audreys.. how about Marsha Waterbury, who is featured in that Japanese tour video and also played her Off-Broadway for several years. Fantastic fantastic performance.

[i_heart_roger_bart]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 3:30pm

I really liked what Kerry Butler did with the role of Audrey in the revival cast. I really enjoyed her in LSOH. I'm not a big fan of Ellen Greene. I know, I know, I've just committed a sin by saying so, but it's true. I can't stand her.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 3:36pm

I love Kerry, but I thought she wasn't very endearing in the role. I never felt for her. The character should break your heart, and I didn't get any of that.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 4:43pm

Well, at Joe's Pub Ellen Greene had me crying during "Somewhere That's Green." I can't imagine what she was like in the context of the show.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 4:52pm

I love Ellen Grrene but have to say Sheridan Smith here in the UK has to be the best i have seen in that role

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 4:56pm

No-- at least not on Broaday. Actors aside, Little Shop is a show that only works in a smaller, more intimate theater, not on a large Broadway Stage. After working on a high school production of Little Shop of Horrors, I can understand why it was a success Off-Broadway and a failure on Broadway. It's a show with a lot of heart, but I think that the heart would get lost in a big theater.

[Copeman63]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 5:25pm

Does anyone else see the irony in SpellingBeeFan's spelling?

That being said, I don't see any need for a "revival", until a director can come up with a concept on how to make it work in a larger broadway house.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 5:51pm

Ellen Greene broke my heart. I loved her. I saw the show several times. The theatre was so intimate, I got sprayed (and of course, hit by falling vines from the ending). Anyone who followed her, simply followed her.

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 7:48pm

My friend had the Florida bootleg, invited to watch it. I watched it and LOVED it. The plant was better then Broadway, IMO. I didn't like Mr.Mushnnik though.

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 7:49pm

And also, I should direct it! :)

[alterego]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:29pm

Interesting that Marsh (Skaggs) Waterbury played Audrey in the first tour, she succeeded Ellen Greene in the tour of THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG, hmmm type casting?

[SNAFU]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:36pm

The recent Broadway Version of Little Shop cannot really be considered a revival since it never played on Broadway. The Original at the Orpheum was a charming show filled with wit and a lot of heart. It was a BIG show in a small and intimate theatre. The cast was superb. The puppetry for all it's low tech elements was Magical. When the plant at the end began walking toward the audience on more then one occasion a woman screamed and tried to get out of the way. This recent Broadway mounting was a Little Show in a BIG theatre. It lacked so much! I sat through what should have been a rollicking fun show, wishing that they would speed things along so I could go home.

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:26pm

Thanks for clearing up the info about the Japanese tour! Marsha Waterbury is indeed phenomenal as Audrey and I think she's a very close second next Ellen Green. I would have loved to have seen the original production!

[emmadny]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:29pm

I love this show¡¡¡
Menken and Ashman, great musical couple.

I wish Little shop... revival