A spokesperson for the production confirmed that the company of the Alan Menken-Howard Ashman musical will include Hunter Foster — the lone holdover from the musical's Florida engagement — as Seymour, Kerry Butler as Audrey, Douglas Sills as Orin Scrivello, Michael Leon Wooley as the Voice of Audrey II, and Rob Bartlett as Mushnik with Carla J. Hargrove as Ronnette, Trisha Jeffrey as Crystal and Dequina Moore as Chiffon.
Many of these names had been previously reported by Playbill On-Line over the past two weeks.
Additionally, the giant plant designed by the Jim Henson Workshop will be puppeteered by Martin P. Robinson, Anthony Asbury, Bill Remington and Matt Vogel. Robinson designed the plant that was used during the musical's original Off-Broadway run.
Featuring direction by Jerry Zaks and choreography by Kathleen Marshall, Little Shop of Horrors begins previews at the Virginia Theatre Aug. 29 with an official opening set for Oct. 2. The creative team comprises William Ivey Long (costume designer), Scott Pask (set designer), Donald Holder (lighting designer) and T. Richard Fitzgerald (sound designer).
According to the Telecharge website, tickets — on sale through Feb. 29, 2004 — are priced between $56 and $96; all prices include a $1 restoration charge. Through Sept. 28, Little Shop of Horrors will play Tuesday Saturday evenings at 8 PM, Sundays at 7 PM with 2 PM matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. From Sept. 29-Oct. 5, the musical will play Tuesday Saturday evenings at 8 PM with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 PM and Sundays at 3 PM. Beginning Oct. 6, the playing schedule will be Tuesdays at 7 PM, Wednesday through Saturdays at 8 PM with matinees Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 PM and Sundays at 3 PM. *
Little Shop of Horrors has had a somewhat tumultuous road to Broadway following a recent pre-Broadway engagement at the Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, FL. That production, which starred Alice Ripley as Audrey and Hunter Foster as Seymour, had been scheduled to arrive at Broadway’s Virginia Theatre July 16 prior to an Aug. 14 opening. During the out-of-town run, however, those dates were canceled, and a new director — Zaks — was hired to replace Connie Grappo.
The original production of Little Shop of Horrors opened at the old WPA Theatre in Chelsea and then transferred to the Orpheum Theatre in 1982, where it stayed for 2,209 performances. Ashman, who died on March 14, 1991, directed the piece. Edie Cowan was choreographer. The musical, which boasts such tunes as "Suddenly Seymour," "Downtown" and "Somewhere That's Green," was made into a 1986 film starring Ellen Greene as Audrey, Rick Moranis as Seymour, Vincent Gardenia as Mushnik and Steve Martin as Orin, the dentist.
The Virginia Theatre is located at 245 West 52nd Street. Tickets are available by calling (212) 239-6200 or by logging on to www.telecharge.com.
