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Little Shop of Horrors

“Little Shop of Horrors,” maybe my all-time favorite musical, is returning to New York City. Here are some things to know:

*Ellen Greene’s performance in the original off-Broadway version is storied, to say the least. She was so excellent, she returned for the movie (though the directors surely could have opted for a bigger star). Ellen Greene is so outstanding, she returned for a recent Jake Gyllenhaal revival, though she was (and is) much older than Jake Gyllenhaal. And people went wild. (I feel bad for anyone asked to play Audrey who is not Ellen Greene.)

*Jonathan Groff, the star of the new production, has an odd history. He has bounced from “Frozen” to “Hamilton” to “Mindhunter” to “Looking.” That is just a strange career. Mr. Groff has renounced social media; he doesn’t believe he is interesting enough. A favorite activity of his is to return to his rural Pennsylvania hometown to see high-school productions of musicals. (I love this.) Mr. Groff is not the most exciting performer, if you ask me, although I like him in his Tony-nominated cartoonish “Hamilton” role. And though “Looking” didn’t work, I admire the writers (and Groff) for what they were attempting.

*The famously juicy role in “Little Shop” is the (human) villain, the dentist, and the new production has a great asset: The new production has Christian Borle.

*Lin-Manuel Miranda praised Howard Ashman for really inhabiting his characters; Ashman would show, he wouldn’t tell. (What would a mermaid do? She would struggle to find the word for “feet.”) Ashman’s work seems so effortless, but it’s real. It feels real. How would Seymour approach Audrey in the big love number? He would take care of her. “Lift up your head; wipe off your mascara. Here, take my Kleenex. Wipe that lipstick away. Show me your face. Clean as the morning. I know things were bad. Now, they’re OK.” Those nouns! “Kleenex,” “lipstick,” mascara.” The series of simple commands: Seymour is beginning to become the authoritative person he has wanted to be. This is incredibly moving, and it’s subtle. Emotional weight in an observation about Kleenex and mascara.

And Audrey replies with Taylor Swift-esque economy: “Nobody ever treated me kindly. Daddy left early. Mama was poor. I’d meet a man, and I’d follow him blindly. He’d snap his fingers. Me? I’d say sure.” Audrey has made herself vulnerable to Seymour. She has told her story--an archetypal story--in the fewest words we could imagine. The link between the dentist and the dirtbag daddy is (smartly) implied. This is enough to induce full-body chills, if you’re in the audience.

Shang a lang. Feel the sturm und drang...in the air....
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