Interview: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at The HopeBox Theatre

While LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is a charming, kooky and hilarious musical cult classic about a man-eating plant from outer space, Brandon Stauffer sees the show a little bit differently.

"At its deepest level, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is about love and everyone's need to find love and be loved," he said. "People can easily relate to that, especially when you can wrap it up with an underdog and a great villain."

Stauffer helms the HopeBox Theatre production in Kaysville, Utah, as the show's director, following his successful stint directing the company's last musical, THE LITTLE MERMAID. And the two shows are linked: Both LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS and THE LITTLE MERMAID (along with ALADDIN) have songs written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. The duo based LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS on director Roger Corman's 1960 black comedy movie starring Jack Nicholson. The off-Broadway musical version won the Drama Critics Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Musical and spawned the 1986 film starring Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Bill Murray and John Candy.

The New York Times called the original production "a Faustian musical about a timid clerk who sells his soul to a man-eating cactus." And then opined: "Admittedly this is rather a rarefied idea for a musical comedy, but the evening is as entertaining as it is exotic. It is a show for horticulturists, horror-cultists, sci-fi fans and anyone with a taste for the outrageous."

Entertainment Weekly hailed LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS as "enormously entertaining," while the New York Post said, "This horticultural horror will have you screaming with laughter..."

Stauffer said it was difficult deciding on his favorite aspect of Hope Box's production. "That's like admitting to having a favorite child. I will say that watching the nine-person ensemble cast come together every night and produce an amazing show is stunning. I could listen to their harmonies all day! But I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the amazing design team that gave the actors a place to live on stage."

The director recognized the show would be a success "in rehearsal about two weeks in where I sat an watched a run-through of (the song) 'Skid Row (Downtown)' and knew that our show had something special," he said. "I could see the actors really settling into the human aspects of their characters and giving a true portrayal of that person. Now weeks later, the show has a life each night that exists in reality and is grounded by actual characters."