Pittsburgh Public Theater starts 2020 with the musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken.
In Little Shop of Horrors, Mr. Mushnik (Marc Moritz) struggles to keep his Skid Row flower shop open. One day his nerdy clerk, Seymour (Carnegie Mellon University grad Philippe Arroyo), brings in an odd horticultural find. He names it after his co-worker, Audrey (Lauren Marcus, Be More Chill), with whom he is in love. But Audrey is dating a sadistic dentist, Orin (Patrick Cannon), so Seymour must content himself with nurturing his little bloom, Audrey II. He quickly discovers, however, that this plant isn't like any other. It can talk and sing! (Monteze Freeland, voice of Audrey II). It can also dance, and grow to amazing heights (J. Alex Noble, puppeteer of Audrey II). The flower just needs one thing in order to thrive: fresh human blood.
Little Shop of Horrors is based on Roger Corman's sci-fi movie from 1960 titled The Little Shop of Horrors. What Ashman & Menken did so brilliantly was add lyrics and music in the styles of R&B, rock, and the girl-groups of the early '60s. This last sound is embodied onstage by The Urchins, a singing group made up of Ronnette (Melessie Clark), Crystal (Tavia Riveé), and Chiffon (Abigail Stephenson). The trio acts as a sort of Greek chorus commenting on the action - if Greek choruses were young, hip, and melodic. Little Shop of Horrors' signature songs include "Downtown (Skid Row)," "Somewhere That's Green," and the awesome power ballad "Suddenly Seymour."