Groff, Borle, Menken, & More Talk Bringing LITTLE SHOP Back to NYC

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

One of the most beloved musicals of all time, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's Little Shop of Horrors

is returning to its roots off-Broadway. It'll begin performances on September 17th

at the Westside Theatre with a dynamite cast. Jonathan Groff, Christian Borrell, and Tammy Blanchard

under the direction of Michael Mayer, and we caught up with all of them during a break in rehearsal

We're very excited to announce that this brilliant company of ours giving us the ability to let you guys be the first to know

that we will be extending this production until January 19th. It is such a dream

I've never been in a more joyful, electric rehearsal room. Everyone is super passionate about the show

Everyone knows the show is amazing. No one wants to mess it up

We're all sort of like disciples of Little Shop of Horrors, and we're just trying to do it in its most direct, original way

and it's such a joy. I feel like several times in my life

things have been so good that I'm waiting for something bad to happen, and this is one of those times

That's how I know it's a really extraordinary experience. Seymour, what an iconic role

When were you first aware of Little Sean? When I was in seventh grade, singing Skid Row in the kitchen

in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, And I was like, someone show me a way to get out of here

Because I constantly pray I'll get out of here. You know, I was like singing that and like crying. Yeah

And now you doing it Now I doing it It very surreal It feels like I immediately in seventh grade again It like I go right back to being acne and like 12 I didn know it as well as we obviously know it now

to sit every day and to kind of mine it and to realize how perfect it is

And the two of them, Howard and Alan, what they have done just in general

the songs that they've written in general have been so important to me and so moving to me

he's standing right here and I still can't believe it. But what do you see, like, to be reminded of what the show was like in a teeny tiny space

And it's going to be in midtown Manhattan. I know it was downtown before, so that's going to be a different thing

But for a very small group of people to come in every night, 240 something

we're all going to be in this teeny tiny space together. This cast is rocking my world

and Michael Mayer has created a dynamic in the room where our whole mandate, all of us

the designers, Michael, the cast, is just not to, for lack of a better word, F it up

To serve up this incredible, perfect material and it's short. Like it's just not overstay its welcome

So we're all just going to try to knock it out of the park eight times a week in that teeny tiny space

When you don't work on a show for a long time and it's not a musical, you miss going in every day

and just being a part of pure joy and just a great story

Because honestly, if you're doing a musical, it's hard to get a musical onto the stage

and especially to have a musical be so legendary. So if you doing a remake which you know I done a few times the only reason why they get remade is because they wonderful And for us to have the opportunity to bring Little Shop back

And modernize it in a way where, of course the diehard fans are going to come

We want you to bring your daughter. We want you to bring your sons. We want you to bring your niece, your nephews

We want you to make this story go on and live on together

and that means we're just going to modernize a little bit, make it more relatable to today

And I think it's going to be great. I think people are going to love it

Having Alan Menka in the room, what is that like? I want to pee my pants

But also it's a great motivator, like showing, hey, we've come this far

We have such a great team behind us. We've got so much to build upon

It's amazing. I mean, if you are a Disney person growing up and seeing his work, you're like, oh my God, that's Alan Menken

Oh, girl, I hope I don't come flat or sharp or this. Am I going to hit my notes right

And, you know, just to hear him be so positive about everything, it's really a love

It's love-bound, and I love it. Seeing his work throughout the years and finally getting a chance to actually be in the room with him

It's humbling, very humbling. So grateful. Little Shop, as I say, is the mother load

of everything I've done since then. The incredible work of Howard Ashman

and the incredible storytelling and finding that musical world that just defines a story and that we done ever since then But you know if you look at Little Shop oh there little elements that have shown up

throughout all the things I've done since then. First of all, I love Alan Menken, and he is the true example of a national treasure

He really, really is. So just to have him around and, you know, it just means everything

It just means everything. What are you looking forward to the most about opening night? just for New York City to experience the show again

because everyone seems to be really excited about it. And so I'm just excited about people getting to experience the show again

I think that the real reason that the show endures is because it's a classic story

It's like the story of Faust. It's the story of someone who sells their soul for fame and fortune

And it's also, I think, I don't know if it's always had this resonance

but in today's world, it's the story of malevolent forces that are constantly working to get you to sell yourself to them

and how you have to struggle against those forces. The idea that I could get a cast of this caliber

to work in a small theater off-Broadway, I thought when is the last time audiences got to experience this level of talent in that close intimate range

And I thought that's something worth doing. And this show is like catnip

Because everyone loves the show. Everyone loves these roles