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My Favorite Musical

 An indictment of Reagan-era greed, "Little Shop of Horrors" is as close as any work gets to "perfect musical" status. I have really only two complaints. One: the staging of the climactic battle, at least in the current version, is not very convincing. Two: Howard Ashman is sometimes a bit lazy in his mockery of Audrey (particularly in Audrey's awed reference to a "twelve-inch screen," in her "I Want" number).


What is especially chilling is the tension between the two main storylines. Seymour tells us that he wants "a way out of here." Audrey, meanwhile, wants domestic tranquility. These two wishes do not have to clash; Seymour could cash a check early in Act Two and leave the flower shop. But Seymour is rapacious.

It's Audrey who gets top billing--and, certainly, the current Audrey (Joy Woods) deserves top billing. Audrey's journey is perverse and fascinating. She can't even articulate her wish until the homestretch of Act One. (Joy Woods--with her "I Want" number--is capable of breaking hearts.) Toward the top of Act Two, Audrey makes various confessions to Seymour--then boldly lurches toward self-actualization.

Please understand--this is still strange and frightening.
With losers like I've been...
It's so hard to say...
Suddenly Seymour...
He purified me...

Audrey gets approximately two minutes to enjoy her new reality. When she comes to understand the dimensions of Seymour's own personal horror story, she is too tired to think about ethics. She clings to her dream--in one of the most arresting 11:00 numbers I know of.

When I die...give me to the plant.
You'll wash my tender leaves...
You'll smell my sweet perfume.
You'll water me and care for me.
You'll see me bud and bloom.
I'm feeling strangely happy now--
Contented and serene--
Oh, don't you see?
Finally, I'll be--
Somewhere that's green.

This is so complex--twisted and "wrong" and funny and moving and scary. It's audacious. Such a shame that it landed on the cutting-room floor--before the film adaptation.

It's amazing to me that Howard Ashman died before his 41st birthday.
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  1. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2026 at 5:59 AM

    I just saw Joy Woods in this show and wept my way through the parts that didn't have me laughing out loud (what an odd musical - I'd forgotten the end and was once again horrified) - the music is wonderful, of course, and her interpretation raised everything to new heights. I'm glad I caught her before her final curtain (this weekend I think).

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