Grow For Me | George Salazar | Pasadena Playhouse | Little Shop of Horrors

Here's George Salazar in performance as Seymour during the October 14, 2019 performance of "Little Shop of Horrors" at the Pasadena Playhouse.

The Pasadena Playhouse production of Little Shop of Horrors ran from September 17 to October 20, 2019. As opposed to the off-Broadway revival of the musical directed by Michael Mayer at the Westside Theatre, which strived to honor and emulate the tone of Howard Ashman's original production, and which happened to begin previews on the exact same night, the musical was completely redirected and reconceived from the ground up by director Mike Donahue, with a slightly grittier, contemporary edge, telling Vanity Fair: "It’s not like Audrey is on Snapchat. But it’s not like you’re walking into a period version of the 1960s. [Our production] is a little looser than that. The thing I became really excited about was: What if we don’t make any assumptions about how all this is supposed to go? What if we just started working on it as if we’re working on a new play? Yes, it’s sort of a B horror movie, and there’s a lot of deliciousness and fun in that, but what if we don’t think of having to make it schtickier? What if we approach it from a place of it is real and it is pedestrian?”

This reconceptualization was also applied to Audrey II, which strayed far from the path created by original designer Martin P. Robinson, with a completely new design by Sean Cawelti, who told the LA Times: “I wanted to make something that seems alien and extraterrestrial but also that gives an emotional reaction — you can’t help but smile. And when the plant opens its petals for the first time and reveals what’s inside, it’s not inherently scary but surprisingly whimsical and magical.”

According to Donohue, in the same LA Times piece: “The classic look can be nostalgic but also predictable. All of the language that’s in the piece is about how the plant stands out, how it catches people’s eyes immediately when people are walking by. There’s gotta be something about it that, in this drab and depressed and bleak world, just pops.”

Little Shop at the Pasadena Playhouse also stared MJ Rodriguez as Audrey (the first trans woman of color to play the role in a major production), Amber Riley as the voice of Audrey II, Cheyenne Isabel Wells as Crystal, Brittany Campbell as Ronnette, Tickwanya Jones as Chiffon, Kevin Chamberlin as Mushnik, and Matthew Wilkas as Orin (and others).

Book and lyrics by Howard Ashman. Music by Alan Menken. Direction by Mike Donahue. Choreography by Will B. Bell. Music direction by Darryl Archibald. Puppet direction and design by Sean Cawelti. Scenic Design by Dane Laffrey. Costume design by Danae Iris McQueen. Lighting Design by Josh Epstein. Sound Design by Veronika Vorel.

Based on the film by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Charles Griffith.

Originally produced by the WPA Theatre (Kyle Renick, Producing Director). Originally produced at the Orpheum Theatre, New York City by the WPA Theatre, David Geffen, Cameron Mackintosh, and the Shubert Organization.

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