LANDMARK MUSICAL 'LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS' RETURNS TO OFF BROADWAY

Little Shop Of Horrors

New York, NY – July 22, 2019 -- Tony Award-winning producers Tom Kirdahy, Robert Ahrens, Hunter Arnold, Mickey Liddell, Curt Cronin and John Joseph, are thrilled to announce that Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s landmark musical LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS will return to its Off-Broadway…roots…this fall. Two-time Tony Award nominee Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, Spring Awakening, “Mindhunter”) will play Seymour in the long-awaited revival, opposite Emmy Award winner Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland, Gypsy) as Audrey, and Tony Award winner Christian Borle (Something Rotten!, Falsettos) as Orin Scrivello D.D.S. Directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, American Idiot), the production begins previews Tuesday, September 17, with an official opening night of Thursday, October 17, at the Westside Theatre (407 W 43rd St). Tickets are available now at Telecharge.com, through November 24 only.

Seymour is a down-on-his-luck florist with a crush on his co-worker Audrey. When he discovers a mysterious – and voracious – plant, suddenly Seymour and Audrey are thrust into an epic battle that will determine the fate of the entire human race.

With a book and lyrics by Grammy and Academy Award winner Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast), and music by Tony and Academy Award winner Alan Menken (Aladdin, Newsies), LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS first premiered Off-Broadway in 1982, where it made audiences laugh, scream, and give up gardening for good. The musical has since catapulted into a global phenomenon, with productions across the world from Broadway to London’s West End, to Asia and Australia – plus a hit 1986 film adaptation directed by Frank Oz that starred Rick Moranis, Ellen Green and Steve Martin. Now, the musical makes its highly-anticipated return home to Off-Broadway, in an intimate new production directed by Michael Mayer that offers an unprecedented opportunity to get close — maybe too close — to an incredible plant with an insatiable appetite.

Joining Mayer on the creative team are Choreographer Ellenore Scott (Head Over Heels Associate), Tony-nominated Scenic Designer Julian Crouch (Hedwig and the Angry Inch); Two-time Tony-winning Lighting Designer Bradley King (Hadestown, Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812); Emmy-winning Costume Designer Tom Broecker (Everyday Rapture); Tony-winning Sound Designer Jessica Paz (Hadestown); Emmy-nominated Puppet Designer Nicholas Mahon (Pyeongchang Olympics Opening Ceremony); and Music Supervisor, Orchestrator & Arranger Will Van Dyke (Pretty Woman). Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA, and General Management is by Live Wire Theatrical/ Chris Aniello.

Additional cast will be announced at a later date.

TICKETS AND PLAYING SCHEDULE

Tickets through November 24 are now on sale at Telecharge.com / 212-239-6200 (outside NY metro area: 800-432-7250). The Westside Theatre Box Office will open on Tuesday September 3 for in-person ticket purchases. The preview playing schedule for LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is Monday–Saturday at 8PM, with Saturday matinees at 2PM. Beginning October 18, the regular playing schedule will be Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7PM, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2PM & 8PM, Fridays at 8PM and Sundays at 3PM.

BIOGRAPHIES

JONATHAN GROFF (Seymour) will next be seen reprising his role as FBI Agent “Holden Ford” in the second season of David Fincher’s critically-acclaimed series, "Mindhunter," which returns to Netflix on Friday, August 16th. On November 22nd, Groff will return as the voice of “Kristoff” in Disney’s highly anticipated “Frozen 2,” the sequel to Disney’s smash-hit film. Groff is also known for his leading work in the HBO series and television film “Looking.” In 2018, Groff appeared as Bobby Darin in the “The Bobby Darin Story” at the 92nd Street Y. He previously received a 2016 Tony Award nomination for his performance as King George III in the Pulitzer Prize winning production of Hamilton on Broadway, which also won 11 Tony Awards that year. Groff made his Broadway debut as Melchior in Spring Awakening, for which he received a Theatre World Award, as well as Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations. His Off-Broadway credits include A New Brain (Encores!), Hamilton, The Bacchae, and Hair (The Public Theater); The Submission (MCC Theatre); and Craig Lucas’ The Singing Forest and Prayer for My Enemy (Obie Award). He starred in Deathtrap on the West End and in Red in Los Angeles. Additional film credits include American Sniper, Frozen, C.O.G., The Conspirator, Twelve Thirty, and Taking Woodstock. Additional television credits include: “Glee,” “The Good Wife” and “The Normal Heart.”

TAMMY BLANCHARD (Audrey) has won a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of young Judy Garland in “Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows” and was Golden Globe and AFI nominated for that performance. She received a 2011 Tony Award nomination for her performance in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and was previously Tony nominated for her Broadway debut in Gypsy opposite Bernadette Peters, for which she received a Theater World Award. Most recently, she starred opposite Denzel Washington in the revival of The Iceman Cometh. Film credits include "Tallulah", "Into The Woods", "Blue Jasmine" ,"Moneyball", "The Good Shepherd", "Bella", "Cadillac Records", "Rabbit Hole", "The Music Never Stopped", "Certainty", "Union Square" and "Burning Blue”, and more. Television credits include “Dare Me” (USA), "Hoke" (FX) “The Big C”, “A Gifted Man”, “We Were the Mulvaneys,” “Sybil,” “Living Proof,” “Amish Grace,” “The Good Wife,” “Law & Order: SVU”, “Guiding Light”, and the original Lifetime TV movie, “Of Two Minds”. Next, Tammy can be seen in the upcoming Mister Rogers biopic "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” opposite Tom Hanks & Matthew Rhys.

CHRISTIAN BORLE (Orin Scrivello D.D.S.), a two-time Tony Award-winning Actor/Director, Christian won for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as "Shakespeare" in Something Rotten! (Drama Desk win), and Best Featured Actor in a Play as "Black Stache" in Peter and the Starcatcher (Drama Desk nom.). Additional Broadway credits: Footloose, Jesus Christ Superstar, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Amour, Spamalot (Drama Desk nom.), Mary Poppins, Legally Blonde (Tony/Drama Desk noms.), Falsettos (Tony nom.), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Christian appeared in Michael Mann’s feature Blackhat opposite Chris Hemsworth and Viola Davis, and The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston. On TV, he starred in “Masters Of Sex,” “Lifesaver,” and NBC’s “The Sound of Music Live.” Christian played a recurring role on The Good Wife and received across-the-board praise as “Tom” on Smash. Most recently, he signed on as a series regular to the new ABC romantic drama Before the Wedding. In Fall 2018, Christian made his directorial debut with POPCORN FALLS off-Broadway. This July, he directed FOOTLOOSE at the St. Louis Muny.

MICHAEL MAYER (Director) Broadway credits include: Burn This, Head Over Heels, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Tony Award, best musical revival, also National Tour), Spring Awakening (Tony Award/Best Musical and Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Director; also London, National Tour, Vienna, Tokyo, and Seoul productions); American Idiot (also co-author, Drama Desk Award for Best Director; also US, UK and Asia tours); Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award/Best Musical also London and National Tour), Side Man (Tony Award/Best Play also London and Kennedy Center Productions), A View from the Bridge (Tony Award/Best Revival), Michael Moore’s The Terms of My Surrender, Everyday Rapture, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Triumph of Love. Off-Broadway credits include: Love, Love, Love (Roundabout), Brooklynite (Also co-author, Vineyard), Whorl Inside A Loop (with Dick Scanlan, Second Stage), 10 Million Miles (Atlantic). National Tour: Angels in America. London: a record-breaking West End run of Funny Girl and UK tour. Tokyo: As You Like It (Toho Theatre). Film: The Seagull, A Home at the End of the World, and Flicka. Television: Smash (Director/Producer, Season One) and two seasons of Alpha House for Amazon. Metropolitan Opera: Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Nico Muhly’s Marnie. He serves on the Board of New York Stage and Film. @MichaelMayerDIR.

HOWARD ASHMAN (Book & Lyrics) Howard Ashman was a founder and Artistic Director of the storied off-off Broadway Theater, the WPA, where he conceived, wrote and directed a musical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater with music by Alan Menken. In 1982 Ashman conceived, wrote and directed Little Shop of Horrors, again with music by Mr. Menken. The musical, based upon Roger Corman’s 1960s-era horror flick was immediately successful. Indeed, it soon became a New York “must see,” playing for five years off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theater in lower Manhattan. The show played LA and London’s West End, Japan, Scandinavia, and Europe, and continues to be produced to great acclaim around the world. In 2003, Little Shop was revived on Broadway, and in 2007 it was revived on London’s West End. It is currently one of the most-produced shows in American high schools. In 1986, he wrote and directed the Broadway musical, Smile, which featured music by Marvin Hamlisch. Little appreciated at the time, Smile is now considered a lost gem of musical theater and is performed by high schools and amateur groups around the US. Turning his talents toward film, Ashman was pivotal in the renaissance of Disney animated musicals and in the development of The Little Mermaid (Producer and Lyrics), Beauty and the Beast (Executive Producer and Lyrics) and Aladdin (Lyrics), all with music by Alan Menken.

After his death from complications of AIDS in 1991, New York Times film critic, Janet Maslin wrote: “[Ashman’s] death from AIDS in March at age 40 cut short a brilliant career, but the jubilant energy of his work will long live on."

Ashman’s contributions to the revival of classic Disney animated musicals were perhaps best expressed by his colleagues, who dedicated the film Beauty and the Beast to his memory: “To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul. We will be forever grateful.” Ashman’s numerous awards include two Oscars, two Golden Globes, four Grammys, a Drama Desk and a London Evening Standard.

ALAN MENKEN (Music) Alan Menken’s music, songs and scores have become an integral part of the fabric of our lives since his first works were produced nearly 40 years ago. His stage musicals include God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy, Real Life Funnies, Little Shop of Horrors, Kicks, The Dream on Royal Street, Beauty and The Beast, A Christmas Carol, Weird Romance, King David, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Leap of Faith, Newsies, Aladdin, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and A Bronx Tale. Song and score credits for film musicals include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast (Animated), Newsies, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, The Shaggy Dog, Home on the Range, Enchanted, Tangled, Mirror Mirror and Beauty and the Beast (Live Action), Howard. Upcoming Aladdin (Live Action). Individual songs for film include Rocky V - “The Measure of a Man”, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – “My Christmas Tree”, Life With Mikey – “Cold Enough to Snow”, Noel – “Winter Light”, Captain America: First Avenger – “Star Spangled Man” and Sausage Party - “The Great Beyond”. Television credits include writing songs for Sesame Street, the ABC mini-series Lincoln, a musical episode of The Neighbors, the ABC series Galavant and the Disney Channel’s Tangled: The Series. His chart topping songs have included “Beauty and the Beast”, “A Whole New World”, “Colors of the Wind” and “Go the Distance”. Winner of the 2012 Tony and Drama Desk awards for his score for Newsies, he has won more Academy Awards than any other living individual, including eight Oscars® with 4 for Best Score and 4 for Best Song; 11 Grammy® Awards (including Song of the Year for “A Whole New World”); 7 Golden Globes; London’s Evening Standard Award; the Olivier Award; the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award. Other notable achievements include induction as a Member (2008) in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame followed by receiving the lifetime achievement acknowledgement of the Johnny Mercer Award (2017); Billboard’s number one single (“A Whole New World”) and number one album (Pocahontas). In 2001 he received the distinction of being named a Disney Legend. Awarded two doctorates in Fine Arts from New York University and the North Carolina School of the Arts. In 2010 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Recent live concert appearances include Hollywood Bowl, Segerstrom Center and Royal Albert Hall, Budokan, Osaka-jo Hall, Maihama Amphitheatre, Tuacahn and Chicago Auditorium.