Little Shop of Horrors (PREVIEWS)

[disneybroadwayfan22]

^Me too and can’t agree even more. I’m on the bus home now.

First of all, the theater is either a bitch to find in general or my phone GPS is totally broken because I wandered in the rain for completely an hour to find the place and only to give up and took a cab there. Needless to say, my purse got completely soaked and my ticket was completely destroyed and had to get it re-printed. The play that I bought and finished on the way up there is badly damaged too, but thankfully readable. Unfortunately, my playbill is destroyed by the secondhand wetness, so I have to get a new one.

The production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS was nearly perfection and if I lived in NY, I’d defientely go back to see Gideon and his take.

It was defientely a traditional LSOH, down to the original score and the standard plant design. I can’t really compare with the West Coast version, but I can tell that version is brand new.

So pretty much any LSOH is good to transfer to Broadway, but to get the comparison: the Oklahoma vs Kiss Me Kate revivals:

OK-West Coast: experimental in design and story and casting
KMK-East Coast: Classic, but a crowd pleaser.

Jonathan was very meek and sweet as Seymour. Surprisingly, he gets very very dark with Mushnik’s death. Rick and Hunter’s Seymours are dripping with guilt. Jonathan’s Seymour lets it happen with no regrets. He was a little scary actually. He was also great in the breakdown scene. He thankfully slipped in physically as Seymour. I was about his looks. But, like I was worried about, Jonathan uses his normal voice and I think his voice is a little soft and low for Seymour. Other than that, he does a great job.

I actually really liked Tammy’s Audrey. It was really refreshing from the ditzy intrepations we have had since Ellen Greene. Her Audrey is vulnerable, but also outgoing and a little tough with a strong NJ accent. She sounded like Orfeh actually. But I do agree with her not having the best singing voice. Tammy does a good Somewhere That’s Green, but her Suddenly Seymour was rough.

And the best part: CHRISTIAN BORLE. He nails Orin and ALL of his background characters. In all of the characters, he gets the voice and movements. His energy with all of them is infectious and he is over-the-top wacky like Charlie. He should stick with crazy characters more often. He was just enjoyable.

[msmp]

Reading the glowing reviews here is really making me wish the Westside Theatre was handicap accessible. How steep are the stairs, and how many of them are there (if anyone bothered to count/can hazard a guess)? Would an elderly person who uses a walker most of the time have any hope of making this show?

[Miles2Go2]

From Westside’s website:

Access into Theatre The Upstairs Theatre is located on the second floor and is not wheelchair accessible. There is no elevator. There are 21 steps up to the theatre entrance and restrooms. There are nine steps to reach the seating area in the house (at rows F and G). There are two steps in the aisle at every row. When late seating is possible, there is an additional flight of stairs consisting of eighteen steps to reach the rear entrance to the theatre, and five steps to reach the seating area.

http://westsidetheatre.com/upstairs-theatre-accessibility/

as I recall, the steps are kind of steep. 

[schubox]

Miles2Go2 said: "From Westside’s website:

Access into Theatre The Upstairs Theatre is located on the second floor and is not wheelchair accessible. There is no elevator. There are 21 steps up to the theatre entrance and restrooms. There are nine steps to reach the seating area in the house (at rows F and G). There are two steps in the aisle at every row. When late seating is possible, there is an additional flight of stairs consisting of eighteen steps to reach the rear entrance to the theatre, and five steps to reach the seating area.

http://westsidetheatre.com/upstairs-theatre-accessibility/

as I recall, the steps are kind of steep."

Agreed, the steps were fairly steep. I was behind a few elderly people who took some time to get up the stairs. 

[SouthernCakes]

But like Orfeh would be amazing

[Fosse76]

I recently saw the production and really enjoyed. It seemed like some of the songs were a little slower than I remembered, and the opening prologue felt rushed, but otherwise it was exactly as I expected. Groff's portrayal was fine, but sometimes I felt his singing was a little too polished. I didn't hate Blanchard, but she was often a little on the flat side, and I'm still not sure about her portrayal. Ellen Greene is so ingrained as the ultimate Audrey that any changes in characterization are going to be met with resistance. However, I'm not quite sure Blanchard was quite sure how to portray it. It was like a hybrid between Ellen Greene's Audrey and an extra left over from the Sopranos. Borle definitely steals the show.

[jparente]

Has anyone done the lottery recently? How many people were there? Would you recommend it, even it’s a low possibility of winning?

[DramaTeach]

1) LOVED this production.

2) Energy of the street urchins was incredible. The audience at it up from the first note.

3) Jonathan Groff was fantastic. He was meek when he needed to be but brought power and darkness in places that really worked. So impressed.

4) Christian Borle is warped and hilarious. People have said that he steals this show, and I can see why they say it, but I still think it belongs to Groff.

5) Tammy Blanchard is playing Audrey as if she's on something or intoxicated throughout. She was better than I expected based on what people here have said, but it's definitely an interesting choice.

6) Sets, lighting, and puppetry were fantastic. Must've been expensive for this Off-Broadway show.

7) Mushnik had some really fun moments too. The cast as a whole was top notch.

8) I want a cast recording.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

DramaTeach said: ”Tammy Blanchard is playing Audrey as if she's on something or intoxicated throughout.”

I was thinking that too, oh my god! She barely walked straight in Act 2 and she seemed really out of it. 

[Codeman109]

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "DramaTeach said: ”Tammy Blanchard is playing Audrey as if she's on something or intoxicated throughout.”

I was thinking that too, oh my god! She barely walked straight in Act 2 and she seemed really out of it."


Saw the show Thursday night and we said the same thing. She wasn’t even standing at points. 

[little_sally]

I saw this yesterday and had a great time. Overall, I really enjoyed it. The cast is all very strong, and I have to say, Tammy was my favorite out of the bunch.

[BarnabyTucker]

Do we think we'll get a cast album?

[Miles2Go2]

That would be great, but I’m not optimistic. When was last time a show at this theater garnered a cast recording? Sometimes shows create cast recordings even when if it’s not profitable in the short-term in order to create more interest in licensing from regional companies and high schools, I believe. Obviously, this is a popular known show so that’s not an incentive here.

I’d say this is similar to the recent off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. Great production. A cast recording would have been great, but there was no financial incentive to do it.

[DramaTeach]

Cagney played at that theatre and got a cast recording. I'm not counting on it, but I'd love for it to happen.

[dramamama611]

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "First of all, the theater is either a bitch to find in general or my phone GPS is totally broken because I wandered in the rain for completely an hour to find the place"

Really? Not sure why you would use a gps when you have  an address.  It's not like youre down in the village where streets get twisty. Sure, it's  a little unassuming, but you only need to follow the building numbers. Or do young people not know how to do this anymore? (And I promise I'm not being snarky)

[Miles2Go2]

I’ll say I’m navigationally challenged. Not sure how I survived pre-GPS (lots of planning via those big Atlas books for trips or later on researching online via Mapquest). I only started coming to NYC in 2010 so by then map apps were a thing. Not sure how I woulda done before. I use Apple Maps all the time when in NYC and Apple Maps took me right to the Westside Theatre. Now getting to Circle in the Square was a different story. You’d think after seeing three different productions I’d now not get lost, but again...navigationally challenged. In my defense, I also use Apple Maps to see what my estimated arrival time is as I usually scrunch several activities into a day.

[Loopin’theloop]

DramaTeach said: "Cagney played at that theatre and got a cast recording. I'm not counting on it, but I'd love for it to happen."

Wasn’t that the first time it was recorded though? 

[somecheapfrenchthing]

Are they using the original, shorter 1982 prologue or the longer prologue used in the movie/revival? 

[n2nbaby]

Saw the show yesterday and I loved it. I’m a little surprised with Blanchard’s negative reviews in the thread, I thought she was the highlight.

I’m also shocked that NOBODY has mentioned how much she looks like Alice Ripley in this. It’s uncanny.

[Zion24]

Blanchard certainly won raves from critics across the board; those griping about her here seem to be in the minority.

I wonder if this could transfer.

[BJR]

JDonaghy4 said: "Blanchard certainly won raves from critics across the board; those griping about her here seem to be in the minority.

Had this thought in general reading the reviews. Seems one of those shows the boards did not match the critics at all. Pretty much raves across the board.

 

[dramamama611]

Except for most people here not liking Blanchard, the boards seem to like the production very much.  

 

Can't wait for Saturday.

[greenifyme2]

dramamama611 said: "Except for most people here not liking Blanchard, the boards seem to like the production very much.



Can't wait for Saturday."

The odd thing to me is not that we necessarily didn’t *like* her, it’s that she was so obviously off pitch at times. So factually, she was a miss. I wonder if her performance has tightened up?

[7thbighero]

The producers have stated that this won’t be going to Broadway, but hopefully these reviews could encourage a further extension

[Miles2Go2]

As Sweeney Todd and Fiddler in Yiddish have proven, off-Broadway shows don’t have to transfer to Broadway to be successful. An extension would be great.