Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors [1] is a 1982 comedy horror rock musical stage play by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh.

The Original Text

The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman (1926- ) [2].

Original play

The musical stage play opened Off-Off-Broadway in 1982 and then moved to the Off-Broadway Orpheum Theatre, where it played for more than five years.

Translations and adaptations

Made into an American comedy horror film directed by Roger Corman in 1960. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about an inadequate florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human flesh and blood. [3]

It was again filmed in 1986 as a musical film called The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Frank Oz (1944- ) [4].

A 1991 animated TV series called Little Shop, was a spin-off from the 1986 film, also created by Frank Oz.

Performance history in South Africa

1984-5: First performance in South Africa 18 August 1984 at the André Huguenet Theatre Johannesburg. Directed by Constance Grappo for Pieter Toerien and Cameron Mackintosh. Presented at the Baxter Theatre in January and February 1985 and at the Alhambra Theatre Durban directly afterwards. The cast: Stella Khumalo, Connie Chiume, Mandisa Dlanga, Graham Clarke, Victor Melleney, Andre Hattingh, Eddie Eckstein, Michael Blaise, Mike Huff. Set designed by Edward T. Gianfrancesco, associate producer Richard Loring, choreography by Wendy de la Harpe, lighting and production management by Jannie Swanepoel.

1999: Staged at The Johannesburg Civic Theatre from March to July 1999, directed by Janice Honeyman, with Graham Clarke, Joseph Clark, Drummond Marais, Jill Middlekop, Lucia Mthiyane, Fem Belling and others.

2015: Presented by Pieter Toerien at the Theatre on the Bay 24 April - June 6 2015. Directed by Steven Stead, designed by Greg King and starring Alan Committie as Seymour Krelborn.