Theater fans up for a little ghoulish fun won’t want to miss the upcoming Slow Burn Theatre production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” coming to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale Oct. 15-30.
Just in time for Halloween, this infrequently staged musical is seeing a successful Off-Broadway revival in New York, and now South Florida fans of this horror-themed comedy musical won’t need to get on a plane to see this 30-year-old smash it. You’ll be able to catch it in the smaller 584-seat Amaturo Theater, where there isn’t a bad seat in the house.
(Warner Bros.)
An original poster from the 1986 hit film “Little Shop of Horrors.”
“Every song is a hit. It’s so rare in modern-day musicals, where audiences latch on to maybe only two or three songs,” said Slow Burn Theatre Co. artistic director and co-founder Patrick Fitzwater. “This show has a ’50s, ’60s flair to it that makes you dance in your seat from the get-go.”
Fitzwater says he’s loved the musical since watching the movie as a kid. He’s talking about the 1986 version starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin and Levi Stubbs, but the origins of “Little Shop of Horrors” goes back even further.
It began as a 1960 American horror farce about a meek florists’ assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. It was adapted to the Off-Broadway stage as a musical in 1982 by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, winning a Tony Award in 1983 before it was turned into the 1986 feature film that reached larger audiences. A Broadway revival lasted 10 months in 2003.
Fitzwater says he’s excited to “Bring Broadway to our hometown and introduce the show to a new generation.”
Not giving too much away, Seymour, the florists’ assistant, initially thinks his new find is just a sort of Venus Flytrap that he names after his co-worker and crush, Audrey. The different types of food and care he gives to the plant don’t work and cause it to grow weaker. Eventually, it grows into an oversized, hideous R&B-singing carnivore that starts talking, and soon begins begging Seymour for more food, upgrading from blood to human meat and then … no more spoilers!
The Slow Burn cast is made up almost entirely of South Florida natives who are “coming home” to perform in this production. Nick Anastasia stars as Seymour and Caiti Marlowe is featured as Audrey.
So, get ready to party with “Little Shop of Horrors” and don’t leave after the final bow or you’ll miss all the fun. Slow Burn obtained the rights to perform “,” a song from the hit movie that they’ll use as an encore.
Tickets to “Little Shop of Horrors” start at $49 and are available at BrowardCenter.org.
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(Slow Burn Theatre Co.)
Caiti Marlowe stars as Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
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(Slow Burn Theatre Co)
Nick Anastasia stars as Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors.”