Kerry Butler To Direct LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Harbour Lights Theatre This Fall
Tony nominee Kerry Butler once played Audrey on Broadway; casting for the Duxbury production is still to come.
Tony Award-nominated actress Kerry Butler will direct Little Shop of Horrors at Harbour Lights Theatre this fall. Performances will run October 21–25, 2026, at The Ellison Center for the Arts in Duxbury.
Butler originated the roles of Barbara Maitland in Beetlejuice and Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, and earned a Tony Award nomination for originating the role of Kira in Xanadu. She also starred as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors when the musical made its Broadway debut in 2003. Now, more than two decades later, she returns to the show from the other side of the table, directing the darkly comic favorite just in time for Halloween.
Little Shop of Horrors follows hapless floral shop employee Seymour Krelborn, whose discovery of a strange and unusual plant suddenly brings him everything he thought he wanted, until Audrey II develops an appetite of its own.
With its infectious Alan Menken and Howard Ashman score, gleefully twisted humor and unforgettable songs including “Suddenly, Seymour,” “Somewhere That's Green” and “Feed Me,” Little Shop of Horrors has become one of the most enduring musicals of the past four decades.
“Little Shop has always held such a special place in my heart,” says Butler. “Playing Audrey was one of those experiences that stays with you, and I'm so excited to come back to this show now as a director. It's funny and weird and heartfelt and a little bit dangerous, and underneath all of that is a story about people who desperately want something more for their lives. I can't wait to dig into it with this cast and find our own version of Skid Row.”
The production continues Harbour Lights Theatre's growing commitment of bringing Broadway artists directly to the South Shore. In July, Broadway's Adam Pascal directed the company's sold-out production of Dear Evan Hansen, featuring a cast of performers with Broadway and national touring credits. For Little Shop of Horrors, Harbour Lights will once again assemble a cast of actors direct from Broadway, with casting to be announced soon.
“What we're building at Harbour Lights is a real connection between Broadway and the South Shore,” says Harbour Lights Artistic Director and producer Mickey White. “Our audiences don't have to go into New York to experience artists working at this level — we can bring them here and create something together in Duxbury. The response to Dear Evan Hansen showed us there is a real appetite for that, and having Kerry come in to direct Little Shop, a show she knows from the inside out, is exactly the kind of experience we want Harbour Lights to be known for.”
Harbour Lights has quickly established itself as a pipeline between Broadway and Boston's South Shore, pairing nationally recognized theatre artists with productions created for local audiences. Previous Harbour Lights productions have featured Broadway performers including Orfeh, Jeanna de Waal, Emma Flynn, Dominic Andersen, Dillon Klena, Chris Medlin, Jeff Williams and Nicole Travolta.
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