60 Fun Facts About Little Shop of Horrors

Who composed the music for the Little Shop of Horrors musical?

Alan Menken wrote the score, his first major hit; with the same lyricist he went on to write The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin for Disney.

Who wrote the lyrics and book of the musical, and directed the original production?

Howard Ashman wrote the book and lyrics and staged the original production himself; he later wrote the lyrics for Disney's The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast before his death in 1991.

The score is written in the style of which musical era?

Early 1960s rock, doo-wop and Motown shape the score, and the three street-urchin narrators take their names from girl groups of that era, such as the Ronettes.

In which year did the musical premiere?

1982 saw the show open off-off-Broadway in May and transfer to a larger off-Broadway house in July, beginning a five-year run.

At which off-Broadway venue in the East Village did the musical run for five years?

The Orpheum Theatre on Second Avenue housed the show for more than five years, from its July transfer until November 1987, one of the longest off-Broadway runs of its time.

What does Mr. Mushnik offer Seymour to keep him and the plant at the shop?

To adopt him is Mushnik's scheme: having seen the plant draw customers, he offers Seymour a father so the boy and the plant will stay in his shop.

How does Seymour discover what makes the plant grow?

He pricks his finger and it drinks the blood: Seymour cuts himself on a rose thorn, the wilting plant opens its pod toward the drops, and he realises what it wants.

The musical is loosely based on a 1960 low-budget film directed by whom?

Roger Corman directed the 1960 film The Little Shop of Horrors, a black comedy shot on a shoestring from a script by Charles B. Griffith.

Roughly what did the 1960 film cost to make?

$28,000 is the commonly cited budget; the director shot the film in a hurry on leftover sets, using them before they were struck.

The 1960 film's interior scenes were shot in how many days?

2 days was all the interior shooting took, because the director had only brief use of sets left standing from an earlier production before they were struck.

Which future star appears in the 1960 film as a pain-loving patient, heavily promoted on later video releases?

Jack Nicholson, then a little-known 23-year-old, plays Wilbur Force, the patient who begs to be hurt; later video releases traded on his fame.

What is the plant called in the 1960 film?

Audrey Junior is the name Seymour gives the plant to flatter his co-worker Audrey Fulquard; the musical later renamed it Audrey II.

Why is the 1960 film in the public domain?

Its producer never copyrighted it: made as a quick throwaway, the film was released without a copyright registration, so it has been free for anyone to distribute ever since.

Under what working title was the 1960 film produced?

The Passionate People Eater was the working title; screenwriter Charles B. Griffith had earlier pitched a vampire-music-critic story called Cardula and one about a cannibal salad chef before settling on the plant.

In the 1960 film, where does Seymour say he got the seeds for his plant?

From a Japanese gardener on Central Avenue, Seymour says, came the seeds; he claims to have crossed a butterwort with a Venus flytrap to produce the plant.

On its October 1960 release, the film was paired on a double bill with which other Filmgroup title?

Last Woman on Earth, another Filmgroup cheapie from the same director, shared the original double bill; the film later reached a wider audience as the second feature under Mario Bava's Black Sunday.

Which of these is one of the three street-urchin narrators in the musical?

Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette, named for the girl groups the Chiffons, the Crystals and the Ronettes, act as a doo-wop Greek chorus throughout the show.

In which song does Audrey dream of a tract house, frozen dinners and plastic on the furniture?

"Somewhere That's Green" is Audrey's fantasy of suburban bliss with Seymour; it is reprised as she dies and asks him to feed her to the plant so they can be together.

In which duet do the florist and Audrey finally admit their feelings for each other?

"Suddenly, Seymour" follows Audrey's confession that she feels guilty about Orin's disappearance because she had wished for it; Seymour answers that she deserves better.

What is the profession of Audrey's sadistic boyfriend, Orin Scrivello?

Dentist is his trade, celebrated in the number "Dentist!", in which Orin boasts that his mother steered him into a job where he could be paid to inflict pain.

How does Orin die in the musical?

He suffocates on laughing gas: Seymour arrives meaning to shoot him but loses his nerve, and when Orin's nitrous-oxide mask jams, Seymour simply stands by and lets him die.

How does Seymour lure Mr. Mushnik into the plant's jaws?

He says the day's takings are inside it: Mushnik, who suspects Seymour over Orin's disappearance and wants him to go to the police, leans in to look and is swallowed.

In the musical's finale, the plant is revealed to be planning what?

World conquest is the plan: a salesman from World Botanical Enterprises wants to sell cuttings to florists across America, and the finale warns the audience not to feed the plants.

Who directed the 1986 film adaptation?

Frank Oz, the Muppet performer who had just directed The Muppets Take Manhattan, was hired for his puppetry know-how, needed for the giant Audrey II.

Who plays Seymour Krelborn in the 1986 film?

Rick Moranis, already known from SCTV and Ghostbusters, plays the meek Seymour and sings his own numbers, including "Grow for Me".

Who plays Orin Scrivello in the 1986 film?

Steve Martin plays Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., the leather-jacketed, nitrous-oxide-sniffing sadist who roars up on a motorcycle and sings his own number.

Which Motown lead singer voiced Audrey II in the 1986 film?

Levi Stubbs, lead singer of the Four Tops, gave the plant its growling voice; his numbers include "Feed Me (Git It)" and the plant's taunting finale duel with Seymour.

Which comedian improvised his lines as the masochistic patient Arthur Denton?

Bill Murray played Arthur Denton, the patient who delights in pain, a role absent from the stage musical but revived from the 1960 film for the movie; his scene was largely improvised.

Which comedian plays radio DJ Wink Wilkinson in the 1986 film?

John Candy, another SCTV alumnus, plays the motor-mouthed radio host whose on-air interview about the strange plant makes Seymour a local celebrity.

Which actress played Audrey both in the original 1982 production and in the 1986 film?

Ellen Greene created Audrey in the original off-Broadway production, played her in London in 1983 and kept the role for the 1986 film; she returned to it in a 2015 New York concert staging.

Which pop star did the studio want for Audrey before she turned the film down?

Cyndi Lauper, then at her peak after the 1983 album She's So Unusual, was the studio's first choice for Audrey but declined, and the stage original kept the part.

Which director was originally attached to the film adaptation, wanting to shoot it in 3D?

Martin Scorsese was the first director attached, planning a 3D version with Steven Spielberg as executive producer, but he moved on to other projects.

At which studio was the entire 1986 film shot?

Pinewood Studios, England, hosted the whole shoot; a complete downtown street set with an elevated train track was built on the giant 007 Stage.

Which new song was written for the 1986 film and earned an Oscar nomination?

"Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" was written by the musical's songwriters for the plant's climactic rampage; the film's only other Oscar nomination was for Best Visual Effects.

The film's Oscar-nominated song was the first nominee to contain what?

Profanity appears in the plant's lyrics, making it the first Academy Award-nominated song to contain any; it was nominated for Best Original Song of 1986 but lost.

Who plays the florist Mr. Mushnik in the 1986 film?

Vincent Gardenia, twice an Oscar nominee for Bang the Drum Slowly and Moonstruck, plays the grumpy Skid Row florist Mushnik in the 1986 film.

The plant scenes were shot at a slower frame rate and sped up; what did the actors have to do to match?

Lip-sync in slow motion was required of the cast, because the puppet scenes were filmed at a reduced frame rate and played back at normal speed, which made the plant's movements look fluid.

Who designed the Audrey II puppets for the 1986 film?

Lyle Conway, a veteran of Jim Henson's workshop who had built creatures for The Dark Crystal, designed the plant, which was built in a series of progressively larger versions as it grows.

Why was the 1986 film's original 23-minute ending replaced?

Test audiences reacted badly to an ending that followed the stage show, in which the plant eats Seymour and Audrey and goes on to ravage New York, so a happy ending was shot.

In which year was the original ending fully restored for a director's cut?

2012 brought the director's cut Blu-ray with the restored colour ending; until then it had circulated only as black-and-white workprint footage, included on a quickly withdrawn 1998 DVD.

What was the 1986 film's production budget?

$25 million was the budget, a large sum for a musical in 1986, much of it spent on the giant Audrey II puppets; the film built its following slowly on home video.

Which record mogul produced the 1986 film through his own company?

David Geffen produced the film through The Geffen Company; he had also been among the producers of the original off-Broadway run, alongside Cameron Mackintosh and the Shubert Organization.

In the 1986 film, Seymour says he bought the plant from a Chinese flower shop during what event?

A solar eclipse, a total one, darkened the sky when Seymour found the plant, as he recounts in "Da-Doo" to the shop's very first customer, a cameo by Christopher Guest.

Which of these actresses played one of the girl-group narrators in the 1986 film?

Tisha Campbell was one of the three singing urchins alongside Tichina Arnold and Michelle Weeks; she and Arnold later co-starred in the sitcom Martin.

In which year did the musical finally make its Broadway debut?

2003 is when the musical reached Broadway at last, opening at the Virginia Theatre in October after a Florida tryout, twenty-one years after its off-Broadway debut.

Who played Seymour in the 2003 Broadway production, earning a Tony nomination?

Hunter Foster played Seymour opposite Kerry Butler's Audrey and received a 2004 Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.

Which film star played Seymour in a 2015 City Center concert staging opposite the original Audrey?

Jake Gyllenhaal sang Seymour in the July 2015 Encores! Off-Center staging at New York City Center, with Taran Killam as Orin; the run lasted only a handful of performances.

Who played Seymour in the 2019 off-Broadway revival at the Westside Theatre?

Jonathan Groff opened the 2019 revival as Seymour, with Tammy Blanchard as Audrey and Christian Borle as Orin; the production went on to run for years with a string of replacement Seymours.

The 1983 London production, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, opened at which West End house?

The Comedy Theatre, since renamed the Harold Pinter Theatre, housed the West End premiere from October 1983, with the original off-Broadway Audrey repeating her role.

Who designed and puppeteered the plant in the original 1982 production?

Martin P. Robinson, the Sesame Street puppeteer behind Mr. Snuffleupagus and Telly Monster, built the original production's plant puppets and operated Audrey II from inside.

The musical's writer said the show satirises B movies, musical comedy and which legend?

Faust is the legend the writer cited: Seymour's bargain with the plant, blood in exchange for fame and Audrey's love, is a deal with the devil.

At which off-off-Broadway venue did the musical have its premiere run?

The WPA Theatre, short for Workshop of the Players Art, hosted the premiere run from May 6 to June 6 before the show transferred to a larger house in July.

Who originated the role of Seymour in the 1982 production?

Lee Wilkof created Seymour in the original off-Broadway production and returned to the show as Mr. Mushnik in the 2015 New York concert staging.

Which former NSYNC member played Seymour in the closing cast of the 2003-04 Broadway run?

Joey Fatone took over Seymour in 2004 and stayed until the Broadway run closed that August; the production's opening Seymour had earned a Tony nomination.

Which veteran director took over the musical's first Broadway production, replacing nearly its whole cast?

Jerry Zaks, a four-time Tony winner, replaced the tryout's director Connie Grappo and recast every role but Seymour before the show reached the Virginia Theatre.

Who directed the 2019 off-Broadway revival at the Westside Theatre?

Michael Mayer, the Tony-winning director of Spring Awakening, staged the 2019 revival, which went on to run for years with a rotating line of star Seymours.

Who played Audrey in the 2007 West End revival that transferred from the Menier Chocolate Factory?

Sheridan Smith played Audrey in the Menier Chocolate Factory staging that transferred to the West End in 2007, with Paul Keating as Seymour and Alistair McGowan as Orin.

Who plays Seymour in the 1960 film?

Jonathan Haze, a regular in the director's low-budget films, plays Seymour Krelboyne in the 1960 original; Dick Miller appears as the flower-eating customer Burson Fouch.

Which Four Seasons member adapted and produced the musical's songs for the 1986 film?

Bob Gaudio, the Four Seasons' keyboardist and chief songwriter, produced the film's soundtrack and arranged the score for the screen; the songwriters also added new numbers for the movie.

Who plays Patrick Martin, the marketing executive who wants to sell Audrey IIs worldwide, in the 1986 film?

Jim Belushi played Patrick Martin in the reshot happy ending, replacing Paul Dooley, who had filmed the part for the original ending but was unavailable for the new scenes.