Little Shop of Horrors: finding a voice for a man-eating plant | Daily Review: Film, stage and music reviews, interviews and more. Home » Stage » Musicals » Little Shop of Horrors: finding a voice for a man-eating plant Little Shop of Horrors: finding a voice for a man-eating plant Share on Google+ At the centre of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s 1982 cult hit musical Little Shop of Horrors is Audrey II, a ferocious, talking, singing, man-eating plant who corrupts the meek, geeky flower shop assistant Seymour. But director Dean Bryant’s production of the show, which opens at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre tonight, finds an even more intriguing and dangerous side to Audrey II. As in most productions, the plant will be brought to life by a series of onstage puppets. Usually the voice for Audrey II is supplied by an offstage soul singer, but in Bryant’s production, Brent Hill, the actor who plays Seymour, will also voice the plant while on stage. “It’s a massive challenge,” Hill says. “We did a workshop many months ago to work it out.

We discussed what it meant for the show, and what it meant for the origin of the plant.” So does it mean that the plant has taken on a part of Seymour? Is the plant a kind of alter ego for him? Or is the plant actually just a plant, and Seymour has hallucinated its personification? “It’s open for interpretation,” Hill says. “But I think we wanted to get away from the idea that the plant isn’t actually real. That wouldn’t be right for the show.” And, in any case, the effect is proving so subtle that it’s taken many audience members quite a while to realise that Hill is providing both voices. Singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem was in the audience for one preview and didn’t notice until intermission, whereas another audience member never picked up on it. That’s largely because while Hill is on stage, he maintains the physicality of the shy, introverted Seymour even while performing the wild, raucous, soulful voice of Audrey II. “It’s like splitting your brain to try, on one side, to be truthful to what the plant wants and then, on the other side, Seymour’s physicality,” Hill says. “And I also have to be listening to that voice as Seymour.

So I’m physically listening to the voice that I’m providing; it’s very tricky.” It’s a fairly substantial reinvention for the musical (and there are a few other surprises in there) but director Dean Bryant says things haven’t been changed as radically as they were in his award-winning production of Sweet Charity, which opened the Hayes Theatre at the beginning of 2014. Little Shop of Horrors sees him reunite with the Sweet Charity creative team: choreographer Andrew Hallsworth, musical director Andrew Worboys, Academy Award-winning costume designer Tim Chappel, set designer Owen Phillips, and lighting designer Ross Graham. “Essentially what we did to Sweet Charity is apply a dramaturg to it, and make it faster and funnier,” Bryant says. “We did a lot of work on the writing of the show, whereas Little Shop is watertight — there’s not a line of dialogue or a song which doesn’t work entirely.

Where the reinvention comes is going ‘imagine if I got handed this script, without having seen any other versions, how would I approach building it?'” Bryant says he doesn’t feel too much pressure to live up to the standard set by Sweet Charity because he believes the excitement which that show generated was as much about what it represented as it was about the quality of the production. “It was the beginning of the Hayes, and at the time it could have been nothing. It could’ve just been another nice theatre, churning out ho-hum work.” The puppets for this production have been designed by Erth , a Sydney-based company which specialises in large-scale puppets, and is currently best known for its award-winning children show Dinosaur Zoo. There are three main Audrey II puppets, as the plant grows in size (the one pictured above is only the middle-sized puppet). “We spent a lot of time talking about what we wanted it to be able to do, rather than specifically what plant it would be,” Bryant says.

“We went very much for a scary plant — a plant that’s androgynous, a plant that looks like a B-movie villain, a plant that can strike and attack, and not just sit there and wait for you to come to it.” But no professional puppeteers from Erth are performing as part of the production — the puppets are manipulated by the cast. Dash Kruck is the main puppeteer, but in the second act, when Audrey II takes over most of the stage, every cast member not on stage helps to operate the gigantic puppet. Another big part of bringing Audrey II to life lies in the ability of the actors on stage to respond to the plant like it’s a real, living, breathing creature. Hill has a lot of stage time with the plant, and Esther Hannaford, who plays his love interest Audrey (after whom Audrey II is named) has plenty of experience working with massive puppets. Hannaford spent nine months playing Ann Darrow in the multi-million dollar stage musical King Kong, opposite a six-metre tall animatronic silverback. “I really enjoy working with these kinds of puppets because it’s such a team effort,” she says.

“Every movement that the puppet makes is eight people all making that movement at the one time.” The biggest challenge for Hannaford is making the role her own. Ellen Greene’s idiosyncratic performance as Audrey in the original Off Broadway production and the 1986 film has become one of the most iconic musical theatre performances of the last few decades. “It’s a bit terrifying,” Hannaford says. “I grew up watching the movie and I’ve seen a lot of her work.” Hannaford says she wants to honour Greene’s performance, but has gone back to the script, which mentions Fay Wray, Judy Holliday, Carol Channing, Marilyn Monroe and Goldie Hawn when describing Audrey. If you took those women and “shook them up in a test tube to extract what’s sweetest and most vulnerable”, you would have Audrey. According to Bryant, Audrey II is just one element of a multifaceted show, and the heart and soul of the musical has to come back to the actors playing Audrey and Seymour and the songs by Ashman and Menken (who would go on to work together on Disney films The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin in the years following Little Shop).

“The Rocky Horror Show, for example, has that same kind of cult, campy, sci-fi with great tunes, but you never get emotionally invested, whereas people totally do in Audrey and Seymour,” Bryant says. “Plus, I’m still listening to the tunes on my iPhone while walking to work. I’ve known that score back to front since I was 15 years old. But if I can still listen to the songs over and over again, you know they really stand up.” Little Shop of Horrors is at the Hayes Theatre, Sydney until March 19, and then tours to Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth. Images by Jeff Busby Man-eating plant Audrey II searches for food in "Little Shop of Horrors" | Las Vegas Review-Journal Man-eating plant Audrey II searches for food in "Little Shop of Horrors" 5844019-0-4 5844022-1-4 Preview "Little Shop of Horrors" Preview performances 7:30 p.m. Monday, Thursday, July 29 Regular performances July 30-Aug.

27 Summerlin Library Performing Arts Center, 1771 Inner Circle Drive $15-$23 (878-7529; signatureproductions.net) By Steve BornfeldLAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Feeeeed me ... the underlying meaning, social significance and cultural insights of "Little Shop of Horrors." Don't believe there's underlying meaning, social significance and cultural insights to be gleaned from a musical about a Venus' flytrap that guzzles blood and swallows humans? Whaddaya, uneducated? "My goal is to give it a little more depth," says Erik Ball, director of Signature Productions' interpretation of the camp 1982 musical. That's the one in which the grisly appetites of the aforementioned flytrap, i.e. "Audrey II," interfere with the romance of our hero and heroine, Seymour and Audrey, laboring at dead-end gigs at Mr. Mushnik's Skid Row Florists.

"The elements and avenues the characters go down, they're very relevant and personal to everybody, the whole idea that everyone hopes and dreams for something more." Premiering with preview performances next week at the Summerlin Library Performing Arts Center, "Little Shop" is the cult fave that morphed from Roger Corman's schlocky 1960 movie (with an appearance by pre-stardom Jack Nicholson as a masochistic dental patient) to the stage musical to a movie musical (featuring well-established Steve Martin as the sadistic dentist). Composed by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, the early rock/doo-wop/Motown-ish score includes the title tune, "Skid Row," "Somewhere That's Green" and "Suddenly, Seymour." Declares Ball: "I don't think you can consider yourself a true fan of musical theater unless you love this show." Or, for that matter, a sociological sage.

To wit: Several eggheads -- sorry, pop-cultural scholars -- insist that beyond the obvious theme of poverty as Seymour struggles to get by on skid row, "Little Shop of Horrors" is a reflection of the integration issues between blacks and whites in the 1950s and '60s, particularly the latter's anxiety over it. Audrey II, so the argument goes, is, in its vocal stylings, obviously African-American, and a menace to our white good guy, Seymour. In its satire of 1950s sci-fi flicks and the embrace of that era, "Little Shop's" R&B-style soundtrack could be construed as a danger to the Pat Boone-flavored safety of white musical tastes. Not sociologically trenchant enough? Try this theory from the "Horror"-rati: "Little Shop of Horrors," at least in its 1980s incarnations, is a mirror of Tricky Dicky Nixon and his corrupted/interrupted presidency, which crashed with the Watergate scandal in 1974. How?

This doctrine holds that while Nixon viewed himself as a president determined to accomplish good things, his actions were unethical and created a rat's nest of crime, similar to Seymour's descent as he gains fame as the plant's caretaker and affection from Audrey. Believing he is rescuing Audrey from her abusive boyfriend, Seymour feeds the leather-clad creep to the ravenous plant, then must do likewise to Mushnik when the shopkeeper threatens to drop a dime on Seymour for the first death. Or take "Horrors" at its surface meaning: As Seymour grows famous, he mistakenly believes Audrey loves him for his fame (she really loves him for him), reinforcing the eternal lesson that a craving for celebrity and success can cost us too much in terms of character. Can we make a suggestion here? Why not pair "Little Shop of Horrors" with "Sweeney Todd" -- a man-munching plant and a throat-slicing barber -- for a double bill of Grand Guignol musical theater? Anyone wanna go halfsies with Signature? Just a thought. Perhaps we're getting too grandiose. Maybe we need to sweep away the pretense, as does Aelwyn Thomas, who portrays Audrey in this production.

"The reason I tried out for this show is because my dad made me," she says. "It was the first show I was ever going to do outside of high school. I was more willing because it was this particular show." Knock 'em (if you'll excuse the expression) dead, Aelwyn. Let's pare this show's appeal down to what Michael Vojvodich -- portraying Seymour, except for three performances when he hands off to Nicholas King -- calls it: "It's morbidly happy," he says. Let's focus on the technical achievements of "Little Shop" in this production, which features an almost 8-foot-tall puppet as Audrey II, with a convenient method of digestion. "The puppet is built in such a way that it has the equivalent of a slide," Ball says. "When they get fed, they go down the esophagus, if you will, and slide right backstage." Cool. Hope the puppet doesn't get indigestion, though. It's eating actors, after all. Speaking of which, let's know that certain touchstones of "Little Shop" remain, especially regarding Audrey II's post-meal signature. " 'A Little Shop' without burping is a sin," Ball says.

"We need to have an after-dinner burp." Let's reassure Mom and Dad that even though "Little Shop" is, well, a shop of horrors, Signature still specializes in family-appropriate entertainment. "It can be attended by all ages," Ball says. "Scary elements were made more thrilling than scary. Gruesome elements are more suggestively gruesome with shadow play, lighting and sound effects." Let's applaud Signature for attaching a food drive to "Little Shop of Horrors," challenging audience members to bring a canned good for the "Feed Me, Seymour" campaign -- cast and crew will do likewise every night of the run -- with a goal of collecting 200 cans per night, to be dispersed to several local charities. Above all, let's remember that "Little Shop of Horrors" is about global warming, the debt ceiling, Michelle Obama's fab fashion sense, the troubled childhood of Moammar Gadhafi, Speaker of the House John Boehner's tear ducts and Lindsay Lohan's addictions. Or not. Man-eating plant takes the stage | Weekender | Theater | siouxcityjournal.com 1 of 4 JOANNE FOX Jim Roscovius, as Mr.

Mushnik, meets his demise, July 6, 2012, at the jaws of Audrey II, in the production of "Little Shop of Horrors," the summer musical presented by the South Sioux City Drama Boosters. Joanne Fox, Sioux City Journal Ty Hudson and Jim Roscovius rehearse a scene from "Little Shop of Horrors," the summer musical presented by the South Sioux City Drama Boosters. Joanne Fox, Sioux City Journal Trevor Hudson, Ty Hudson and Rachael Heisterkamp rehearse a scene, from "Little Shop of Horrors," the summer musical presented by the South Sioux City Drama Boosters. JOANNE FOX Rachael Heisterkamp and Ty Hudson rehearse a scene, July 6, 2012, from "Little Shop of Horrors," the summer musical presented by the South Sioux City Drama Boosters. (Photo by Joanne Fox) Man-eating plant takes the stage JOANNE FOX (…) JOANNE FOX Jim Roscovius, as Mr.

Mushnik, meets his demise, July 6, 2012, at the jaws of Audrey II, in the production of "Little Shop of Horrors," the summer musical presented by the South Sioux City Drama Boosters. Joanne Fox, Sioux City Journal Ty Hudson and Jim Roscovius rehearse a scene from "Little Shop of Horrors," the summer musical presented by the South Sioux City Drama Boosters. Joanne Fox, Sioux City Journal Trevor Hudson, Ty Hudson and Rachael Heisterkamp rehearse a scene, from "Little Shop of Horrors," the summer musical presented by the South Sioux City Drama Boosters. JOANNE FOX Rachael Heisterkamp and Ty Hudson rehearse a scene, July 6, 2012, from "Little Shop of Horrors," the summer musical presented by the South Sioux City Drama Boosters. (Photo by Joanne Fox) Hollywood has proven that scripts featuring plants that eat people make for entertaining shows. Add singing and dancing and you've got a Broadway musical.

For its fifth year of presenting a summer musical, the South Sioux City Drama Boosters chose the plant-eating song and dance show, "Little Shop of Horrors." One of the longest running Off-Broadway shows of all time, this affectionate spoof of 1950s sci-fi movies has become a household name, thanks to a highly successful film version starring Rick Moranis and a score by the songwriting team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. The play is introduced and narrated by a Greek Chorus of street urchins (Natali Ramirez, Brooke Hamilton, Gabby Salinas, Maria Lohr, and Andrea Tostada) The musical features a down-and-out floral assistant, nerdy Seymour Krelborn (Ty Hudson) who yearns to hook up with the beautiful, but ditzy, Audrey (Rachael Heisterkamp) The flower shop of Mr. Mushnik (Jim Roscovius) becomes an overnight sensation when Seymour discovers an exotic plant with a mysterious craving for fresh blood.

Soon "Audrey II" (voiced by Jaci Buttermore and manipulated by Jef Winterlin, Trevor Hudson, and Patrick Conley) grows into an ill-tempered, foul-mouthed, rhythm-and-blues singing carnivore who offers him fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite. Get breaking news sent instantly to your inbox Sign Up! ‘Little Shop’ Bringing Man-eating | News & Events :: SOMC News & Events :: SOMC » March, 2008 » ‘Little Shop’ Bringing Man-eating ‘Little Shop’ Bringing Man-eating Posted on March 3rd, 2008 Alien man-eating plants take center stage in Portsmouth Little Theatre’s upcoming production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” a stage musical directed by Eric Armstrong with musical direction by Linda Tieman. The dark comedy tells the quirky story of Seymour Krelborn and his carnivorous plant and features popular songs by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. “This story is well-known and loved by a lot of people,” Armstrong said.

“We’re very excited to be able to produce it in a community theatre setting, where everyone can affordably enjoy the performances up close, and get a chance to see some of our remarkable local talent in an fairly complex production that’s truly entertaining.” The production features a dozen local performers, with Vincent Scarpinato starring as Seymour and Dani Gillstrap as his leading lady, Audrey. The pair are supported by actors Nicholas Erlenwein, Jacqueline Hines, John Kasper, Mason Parker, Chelsey Phillips, Micah Roberts, Hannah Shope and Clark Tieman. The huge plant, Audrey II, is voiced by Michael Raies with puppeteering and mechanical performance by Noah Fannin. Radio personality Steve Hayes guest stars as a disc jockey promoting the plant on a local talk show. A crew of volunteers is also helping behind the scenes. “We’re very lucky to have the support of so many people in producing this show,” Armstrong said. “We have sponsorship by Debbie Gambill Century 21 Empire Realty, Fifth Third Bank and Southern Ohio Medical Center, and help from other area businesses as well.” The production is scheduled at 7:30 p.m.

March 7,8, 14 and 15 and matinee performances at 2 p.m. March 8 and 15 at the theatre, 1117 Lawson St. Advanced tickets are $10 evenings ($12 at door) and $5 matinees ($7 at door). Tickets are available at Hatti Beasley’s and Market Street Cafe. Audrey II | Little Shop of Horrors Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Little Shop of Horrors Wiki Debated, portrayed by male actors Portrayed By Levi Stubbs Audrey II (or Twoey for short) is the main antagonist in every version of Little Shop of Horrors (though in the original "The Little Shop of Horrors" movie the plant was named Audrey Jr.). Contents Edit Audrey II was bought by Seymour from an old Chinese man, a florist that sold other exotic plants, for just "a dolla' ninety five!" At first, Seymour just thought of Audrey II as a sort of venus fly trap plant, yet all the different types of food and care he gave it didn't work and caused it to grow weaker.

Eventually Audrey II grew larger into a hideous beast that gained the ability to talk and soon began to beg Seymour for more food, upgrading from blood to human meat as well. Audrey II played with Seymour's emotions to convince Seymour to kill Orin Scrivello , a sadistic evil dentist who abuses Audrey, Seymour's love interest, and also took advantage of Seymour nearly getting arrested to kill Mr. Mushnik, his boss (who later adopts him before dying) for food. Audrey II (now enormous) called Audrey , Seymour's life-long love interest on the payphone and convinced her to come over to the shop only to eat her. Seymour saves Audrey in time (in the modified ending) before he challenges the monsterous plant in a final showdown, and barely escapes death by electrocuting it. With Audrey II and its newly blossomed buds (who work as back-up singers during Audrey II's song in the show-down, Mean Green Mother From Outer Space) being fried alive from the electrical wires, the plant exclaimed a surprised "Oh shit!" before exploding into green-blue atoms that are presumed to be seeds or re-generating plant spores.

This is presumed on account of the ending of the movie where hidden in the happy, little garden in the front lawn of Seymour and Audrey's new home, is a new, baby-like version of Audrey II that gives a wicked, "I'll be back" smile to the audience before the credits roll. However, in the original ending, Seymour did not save Audrey in time and unwillingly, yet on her dying wishes, fed her to the plant. Audrey II then consumed Seymour, and shortly after, its leaves were sold all across America which resulted in similar situations that happened to Seymour (tricking innocent people into feeding their plants people) and eventually, the plants (after reaching a massive size) attacked and are seen destroying cities and eating people whole. The ending shows the United States Army fighting the plants and the Statue of Liberty being ascended by the Audrey II Buds. It is unknown if the Audrey II buds took over the world. A not well known nickname of Audrey II that Seymour uses is "Twoey", as spelled in the DVD subtitles. Origin/Species Edit Audrey II has it's own charming, funky, and almost sweet-talking power of persuasion, which easily hides its sinister intentions.

In short, this plant an evil genius that could easily take advantage of Seymour's disposition and being the only one of its kind (on Earth). Audrey II went through five different forms: 1st Form: A small, mute plant pod. 2nd Form: A slightly larger pod, capable of movement. This is where Audrey II first displays the ability to open it's mouth. 3rd Form: Twooey is now capable of speech, and is roughly as tall as a grown man when the plants "head" or bulb is pointed upwards. 4th Form: Considerably bigger, now easily as tall as Seymour while bent over. At this point, Twooey takes up easily half the room, but is still contained in a pot, albeit a large one. 5th Form: This form is seen when Audrey II breaks out of it's own pot. Audrey II is now capable of budding, and shows proficiency with using it's own vines as weapons. Gender While the voice used for Twoey is male in most portrayals, there is much debate about the gender of Twoey. Male Theory Edit Most fans simply assume Audrey II to be male since it is always voiced by a male actor.

In the cut song "Bad", which was the predecessor to "Mean Green Mother", Audrey II uses masculine pronouns: "Just one encounter and she called me 'Mr. Audrey, sir'". Female Theory Edit Some fans claim the plant to be female, drawing support from the final scene, in which Twooey not only refers to itself as a "Mean Green Mother", but sprouts off infant plant pods, an action which is easily interpreted as the equivalent of giving birth. Contradictions Edit It is much more likely it merely chose to use the term "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" because at times the word "mother" is often just a derivation from the common swear phrase, "Mother F***er ". Twooey is also unlikely to have actually given birth, as it's offspring were merely other buds off the same plant, and were probably able to talk because they were in fact a part of Audrey II's conciousness, representing an extension of Audrey II, and not true "children". Genderless Theory Many plants possess both male and female parts, and it is shown in the film more plants are able to be created without Audrey II coming into contact with another of its species.

Contradictions The children may simply have been created by splitting, a common gardening technique in which a plant is split and become seperate plants. There is one plant confirmed to have been created through this process in the film. Mechanics Edit It took elaborate puppetry in order to make Audrey II come to life. Besides the electric sparks in the final scene, not a lot of CG was shown in the film. To the viewer, it appears that Audrey moves in real time along with Seymour, or whoever else it's singing with/talking to. But since it can only move at a certain speed, it would be filmed singing/talking at 16 frames per second. Rick Moranis and all of the other actors would have to sing in slow motion, which (in editing) would be sped up to appear that they're singing in unision at a normal speed. Trivia Audrey II's final song, " Mean Green Mother From Outer Space " was nominated for the "Best Song" Award for movies.

Cameos in Other Media Audrey 2 in Moshi Monsters Audrey II is also referenced in a large variety of media The online game Dragonfable, which features an enemy named Awdreetoo A plant resembling Audrey II can be seen in Moshi Monsters A monster resembling Audrey II can be seen at one of the tables at Grillby's in the popular Indie game Undertale. The Pirahnah Plant boss from the SNES game, Yoshi's Island, is based off Audrey II and is actually named after the plant in the German localization of the game although it should be mentioned that the plant's name is primarily Audrey and not Audrey II King Sprout in Super Dungeon Explore (tabletop game) bears a resemblance to Audrey II and has a special ability called 'Feed Me.' Stage West revives <i>Little Shop of Horrors</i> | Tampa Bay Times Mortgage scam exposed by Times to air Thursday on CNBC 5 Months Ago Is it really okay to laugh at a man-eating plant or a sadist who beats up his girlfriend? Are you el-sicko if you think a killer is charming? That's the challenge for Little Shop of Horrors, a comedy horror rock musical opening Thursday at Stage West Community Playhouse.

It's the fanciful tale of how nerdy Seymour Krelborn (Keith Surplus, Charlie Award as Cornelius in Hello, Dolly! at Richey Suncoast Theatre) finds success and true love while working at the Skid Row Florists, thanks to a mysterious plant that thrives on human blood and carcasses. His true love is unfashionable Audrey (Victoria Primosch, four-time HAMI winner, Roxie in Chicago), who also works at the florist shop. Audrey dates the violently sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello (Paul Wade, seven-time HAMI winner, Javert, Les Miserables), but she secretly loves Seymour. But Seymour thinks Audrey loves him only because of the fame he owes to Audrey II (James Muriel), the ravenous plant he discovered after it appeared during a sudden eclipse of the sun. The action is set to a rock/ pop/doo-wop score, sung by a street-wise trio — Crystal (Lizz Voorhees, Ruth in Harvey), Ronnette (Kristen Ballard, Chava in Fiddler Jr.) and Chiffon (Jada Crandle, Little Inez in Hairspray) — and a six-member chorus.

The musical is a spoof of horror films, suburbia, and the business world, especially greedy bosses like shop owner Mr. Mushnick (Stan Kane, Craven in The Secret Garden), who goes to any lengths to make a buck, right up to and including adopting the gullible Seymour so that the famous plant will stay in his shop. Meanwhile, Audrey dreams of a place far away from trashy Skid Row out in the ticky-tacky suburbs, with a tract house, frozen TV dinners, a chain link fence, a 12-inch television set and sturdy plastic on all the furniture — all described in the number, Somewhere That's Green. Little Shop started as a low-budget ($27,000 total) movie in 1960 and became a hit Off-Off-Broadway musical in 1982. A movie musical version with Rick Moranis, Steve Martin and Bill Murray was released in 1986. The show made it to Broadway for a year, 2003-04, and it has been a favorite in community and regional theaters from the day performing rights became available.

Stage West first did Little Shop in 2003 as a summer special, and audiences loved it. So it's no surprise in a season with several reprises that Stage West would bring back one of its favorites. Even if it sounds gory, it's really suitable for all ages. >>IF YOU GO Musical 'Horrors' Little Shop of Horrors, a comedy horror rock musical, Thursday (Nov. 12) and weekends through Nov. 22 at Stage West Community Playhouse, 8390 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill. Shows are at 7:30 p.m., except Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20, reserved seating. Youth and group rates available. Call (352) 683-5113. Stage West revives Little Shop of Horrors 11/04/15 [Last modified: Wednesday, November 4, 2015 6:02pm] Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This!

Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Little Shop of Horrors ( 1986 ) PG-13 | A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed. Director: Howard Ashman (screenplay), Howard Ashman (based on the musical play "Little Shop of Horrors") | 2 more credits » Stars: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 31 titles created 31 Jul 2011 a list of 33 titles created 29 Aug 2012 a list of 21 titles created 04 Nov 2013 a list of 22 titles created 02 Aug 2015 a list of 25 titles created 8 months ago Title: Little Shop of Horrors (1986) 6.9/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 11 nominations.

See more awards » Videos Directors: Roger Corman, Charles B. Griffith, and 1 more credit » Stars: Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles A newly engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Director: Jim Sharman Three actors accept an invitation to a Mexican village to perform their onscreen bandit fighter roles, unaware that it is the real thing. Director: John Landis A selfish, cynical T.V. executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve. Director: Richard Donner Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun. Director: Ivan Reitman A successful psychotherapist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, an obsessive-compulsive neurotic, tracks him down during his family vacation. Director: Frank Oz A star bowler whose career was prematurely "cut off" hopes to ride a new prodigy to success and riches.

Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly Stars: Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Bill Murray Edit Storyline Seymour Krelborn is a nerdy orphan working at Mushnik's, a flower shop in urban Skid Row. He harbors a crush on fellow co-worker Audrey Fulquard, and is berated by Mr. Mushnik daily. One day as Seymour is seeking a new mysterious plant, he finds a very mysterious unidentified plant which he calls Audrey II. The plant seems to have a craving for blood and soon begins to sing for his supper. Soon enough, Seymour feeds Audrey's sadistic dentist boyfriend to the plant and later, Mushnik for witnessing the death of Audrey's ex. Will Audrey II take over the world or will Seymour and Audrey defeat it? Written by HannahMontaniwitz A Singing Plant. A Daring Hero. A Sweet Girl. A Demented Dentist.

See more » Genres: Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sci-Fi Motion Picture Rating ( MPAA ) Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including comic horror violence, substance abuse, language and sex references | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 19 December 1986 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Der kleine Horrorladen See more » Filming Locations: 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)| Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints) Color: Did You Know? Trivia Two of the Greek chorus girls, Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell-Martin would later star together in the TV show Martin (1992). See more » Goofs The first bum in "Downtown." See more » Quotes [first lines] Narrator : On the twenty-third day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence. And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places...

See more » Crazy Credits "Special Thanks" are given to Paul Dooley , because his scenes as Patrick Martin were cut and re-cast with Jim Belushi . Dooley's scenes are restored for the Director's cut, and consequently Belushi gets the "Special Thanks" instead. See more » Connections (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews The 1986 musical version is adapted from the successful Off Broadway play. The film was shot in London and filmed in the style of a musical play hence you get this interior staged bound feel to this movie. Rick Moranis plays Seymour a nerdy, hapless and put upon flower shop boy owned by Mr Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia.) Seymour is in love with the blonde, beautiful Audrey (Ellen Greene) but she is going out with psycho, motor biking dentist Orin (Steve Martin.) After an eclipse Seymour discovers a new plant which becomes an instant hit with the customers who all flock to the shop to admire it. The plant which Seymour calls Audrey II needs feeding and as it gets bigger so does his lust for human flesh and blood. The film is uneven, some of the song numbers are interesting but too many are overbearing or just drone on.

Moranis is in his element as the put upon nerdy type with dark edges as he goes along with the desires of his insatiable plant maybe from outer space voiced by Levi Stubbs. Ellen Greene is simply delectable and divine as Audrey. It is left to Martin to deliver the laughs as the sadistic biker and the best scenes are between him and Bill Murray as the masochist patient who leave Martin questioning his nastiness. It is a fine enough retro musical and the version I saw also had the alternate and a more grim ending. 1 of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Theatre Department shines in musical on man-eating plant | The Eastern Progress Theatre Department shines in musical on man-eating plant Posted by Cassandrea Grey | Mar 2, 2016 | Opinion columns | 0 Crowds swarmed into Gifford Theatre from Feb. 24 to 28, as the EKU Theatre Department performed their production of Little Shop of Horrors, a comedy-horror musical originally written by Howard Ashman. I, personally, was pleasantly surprised with the Eastern’s take on the classic musical, directed by Professor Alana Ghent.

The musical features a clumsy young man named Seymour, played by Sean Sullivan, who was orphaned as a child and now lives in the inner-city. Seymour works in the destitute flower shop of Mr. Mushnik, played by Nicholas Hemlic, and loves his job. Seymour pines after his coworker, Audrey, played by Abi Moore, and attempts to impress her with a weird plant he happens upon, which he names Audrey II. After much trial and error, he finds that the plant only responds to being fed fresh human blood. However, he cannot keep giving the plant his own blood, so he must search for the blood of others. He maintains the plant at its request by murdering those he deems worthy of death to further his fame and fortune in hopes of wooing Audrey. This causes some complications. The talent within this play was obvious. Each character sang and spoke with clarity and precision. Each song was performed without a gimmick. The acting didn’t feel forced. From the audience’s perspective, it really felt like the actors were entirely their characters. One of the more interesting parts of this production is Ghent’s choice to have Audrey II voiced by a woman, Joelle Camillo.

Normally that part is given to a man. Camillo did incredibly well in this role, though, and really brought the man-eating plant puppet to life. My absolute favorite character from the performance would be Orin, the sadistic dentist and abusive boyfriend of Audrey. His character was completely ridiculous, and the concept of a dentist who loves laughing gas and the pain of others is bound to be fun. Dominique Norris did a great job in making his character dislikable, yet interesting, played Orin. His laugh was contagious and fun, but when he was angry, it was almost frightening. His role in the musical is crucial to Audrey and the character development alongside Seymour. While the musical was fun and overall entertaining, it did tackle some issues I was not expecting. For instance, sexism served as a topical issue within the play. The character of Audrey is a staunch stereotype of femininity and the ideal female–which is made fun of throughout the musical. From Audrey’s dreams of frozen dinners to a chain-linked fence, her ideas of a perfect life are mediocre at best. Watching the musical, I only had one issue: domestic abuse is frequently mocked throughout the subtext of Audrey’s storyline.

But this isn’t something that can be taken up with the theatre department, and instead the playwright, so I’ll leave it be. The music was catchy. The actors were talented. The set and Audrey II looked intricate. The best part: it was only $6. EKU Theatre’s next performance will be The Little Prince, a renowned play based on the book of the same name, and I know I’ll be looking forward to it. For more information go to theatre.eku.edu. Share:

Question: Which stage musical features 'Audrey II', the man-eating plant?
Answer: Little Shop of Horrors