Beginning Nov 15th, the Little Shop of Horrors touring company will get
a new Audrey and Seymour. Liz Pearce (tours of Jesus Christ Superstar
and Seussical) will be replacing Tari Kelly and Joe Farrell ("Trading
Spaces" family) will be replacing Jonathan Rayson. Lenny Wolpe, who played Mushnik, was also
recently replaced by Darren De Paul.
The show is currently playing Cleveland's Playhouse Square Center through November 20th; the tour will next come to Kansas City's The Music Hall from December 5th through 11th. Stops in Des Moines, Tucson and Sacramento, among others, are also on the itinerary.
Little Shop of Horrors is directed by Jerry Zaks, choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, and features music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman. The show, with a score steeped in '50s doo-wop, is based on the horror film by Roger Corman. "Little Shop of Horrors is the story of Seymour Krelbourn, a meek skid row flourist who makes a Faustian pact with a tiny plant in order to win the heart of Audrey, the girl he loves." Of course, the plant turns out to be a carnivorous alien. In the show, Audrey II is designed by The Jim Henson Workshop and Martin P. Robinson. Little Shop of Horrors also features sets by Scott Pask, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Donald Holder and sound design by T. Richard Fitzgerald.
Little Shop's cast also includes James Moye as Orin Scrivello, LaTonya Holmes as Ronnette, Amina Robinson as Crystal and Yasmeen Sulieman as Chiffon.
The Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, on which the tour is based, starred Hunter Foster and Kerry Butler; it ran from October 2nd, 2003 to August 22nd, 2004. The original off-Broadway production, starring Ellen Greene and Lee Wilkof, ran for 2,209 performances after opening on July 27th, 1982.