The world's most popular show about a man-eating plant will soon be returning to an area stage during The University of Toledo's production of "Little Shop of Horrors." Beginning a three week run on April 8 at the UT Center for Performing Arts, the classic musical— an odd yet hilarious merging of horror, comedy and rock— tells the tale of a young flower shop employee named Seymour who finds fame and fortune upon discovering a plant with a taste for human blood.
Cult Classic
"Little Shop of Horrors" written by the musical team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (who would go on to write music for Disney classics like "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast"), first debuted off-Broadway in 1982. An adaptation of a cult-favorite film by Roger Corman, the stage show has since remained a staple of theater companies nationwide.
"The Seymour story is how far he will go to be famous, and be good enough for a girl," said Nathaniel Leonard, the UT production's musical director. "That appeals to a general audience— how far are you willing to push the envelope in order to 'make yourself worthy' for an individual?"
This is far from the first time the show has been performed locally— Start High School had a production last November, but Leonard said he is still excited about the opportunity to take part in this latest rendition of "Little Shop."
"My favorite part of the process of putting the show together from the ground up, is the interaction that the musical director gets to have with shaping the character," he said. "A lot of times, you kind of get an idea of what the character should be, and then you hear the person sing the role, and because of their voice, or because of different ideas they have about how they want to inflect or how they want to color their voice, it totally changes the character."
A Great Show
Leonard, a music teacher at Toledo Public Schools and graduate degree alumnus of the UT Music Department, was first exposed to "Little Shop" at the tender age of 11 when he saw the 1986 movie adaptation starring Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene. With little memory of the actual story when offered the chance to direct the UT production's orchestra, he quickly recalled the entertainment value of the production.
"It's a great show, and I knew I loved the music to it, so I agreed to do it," he said.
The biggest hurdles for the show to overcome are the technical aspects— not just the depiction of "Little Shop"'s plant star, but the interaction between the orchestra and the performers, as well. "The opera side of the building made sure that they were light this semester on performances, so their students could take part in this musical," Leonard said. "The musical isn't something that UT does every year, so [he theatre and the music department has] worked well together to make this happen."
UT's production of "Little Shop of Horrors" will run April 8-10, 15-17 and 22-24.
Showtimes on Fridays & Saturdays are at 7:30pm, and Sundays at 2pm.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit utoledo.tix.com
