Pittsburgh Public Theater Presents
Little Shop of Horrors
In Artistic Director Marya Sea Kaminski’s first musical at Pittsburgh Public Theater, a legendary plant meets an irresistible pop score.
Pittsburgh Public Theater starts 2020 with the musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken. This monster hit is Marya Sea Kaminski’s first musical at The Public, and features the return of Grammy winner John McDaniel as Music Director. Little Shop of Horrors runs January 23 – February 23, 2020 at the O’Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater’s home in the heart of Downtown’s Cultural District. For tickets call 412.316.1600, go to ppt.org, or visit the Box Office.
In Little Shop of Horrors, Mr. Mushnik (Marc Moritz) struggles to keep his Skid Row flower shop open. One day his nerdy clerk, Seymour (Carnegie Mellon University grad Philippe Arroyo), brings in an odd horticultural find. He names it after his co-worker, Audrey (Lauren Marcus, Be More Chill), with whom he is in love. But Audrey is dating a sadistic dentist, Orin (Patrick Cannon), so Seymour must content himself with nurturing his little bloom, Audrey II. He quickly discovers, however, that this plant isn’t like any other. It can talk and sing! (Monteze Freeland, voice of Audrey II). It can also dance, and grow to amazing heights (J. Alex Noble, puppeteer of Audrey II). The flower just needs one thing in order to thrive: fresh human blood.
Little Shop of Horrors is based on Roger Corman’s sci-fi movie from 1960 titled The Little Shop of Horrors. What Ashman & Menken did so brilliantly was add lyrics and music in the styles of R&B, rock, and the girl-groups of the early ’60s. This last sound is embodied onstage by The Urchins, a singing group made up of Ronnette (Melessie Clark), Crystal (Tavia Riveé), and Chiffon (Abigail Stephenson). The trio acts as a sort of Greek chorus commenting on the action – if Greek choruses were young, hip, and melodic. Little Shop of Horrors’ signature songs include “Downtown (Skid Row),” “Somewhere That’s Green,” and the awesome power ballad “Suddenly Seymour.”
In addition to Little Shop of Horrors’ hilariously harrowing plot, Marya sees its deeper meaning. “Little Shop resonates with the bigger question of what it’s like to be hungry and tells the story of the monstrous lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we most crave.”
The design team for Little Shop of Horrors is Timothy Mackabee (Scenic), Susan Tsu (Costumes), Robert Aguilar (Lighting), Zach Moore (Sound), and Bryce Cutler (Projections). Trina Mills is the Choreographer, Catie Brown is Associate Music Director, and Hattie Clare Andres is the Associate Director. Casting is by Geoff Josselson, Pamela Brusoski is the Production Stage Manager, and Rebecca Krall is the Assistant Stage Manager.
About Ashman & Menken
The first collaboration between Howard Ashman and Alan Menken was God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, a 1979 musical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s book. Little Shop of Horrors followed in 1982 and its popularity was phenomenal, running for five years at Off-Broadway’s Orpheum Theatre. The success of Little Shop soon brought Disney Pictures to Ashman & Menken’s door. The writing partners then created the lyrics and music for the animated movie, The Little Mermaid, and received Academy Awards for Best Song and Best Score. This was followed by another Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast, and again the partners received Oscars for their work. Ashman, however, did not live to take home the award. He died of AIDS in 1991. Menken continues to be an in-demand composer whose music includes Sister Act, Newsies, and Aladdin among many others.
Pittsburgh Public Theater Presents
Little Shop of Horrors
January 23 – February 23, 2020
Performance Schedule
Tuesdays at 7 pm.
Wednesdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm (except Wed. Feb. 5).
Saturdays at 2 pm (except Jan. 25 & Feb. 1) plus 2 pm on Thurs. Feb. 20.
Sundays at 2 & 7 pm (except Feb. 23 when the final performance is at 2 pm).
Opening Night/Press Night is Friday, Jan. 31.
Ticket prices start at $31. Tickets for students and age 26 and younger: $16.50.
Discounts for groups of 10+ are available by contacting Katina White at 412.316.8221 or groupsales@ppt.org.
Ticket prices are subject to change.
For tickets contact 412.316.1600, ppt.org, or The O’Reilly Box Office.