I saw the Broadway debut of “Little Shop” (in the eighties, it was officially “Off-Broadway”) on Sunday, Jan. 11th at 2 pm. Since every other Sunday matinee is at 3 pm, we had to buy our tickets at the tkts booth and RUN to the theatre. My friend Jed and boyfriend Chris were able to grab a sandwich while I got the tickets, so the fact that I was startving during the show most likely affected my viewing.

I learned a few things.
1) If you go see a show that you’ve been IN, don’t expect much in the way of surprise or excitement. You already know what happens. In fact, you know every single line.
2) Go see a show as soon as it opens. Within the first few months, the actors get sick of the material and they are just going through the motions.

This is not to say I did not like the show. It was really great. Hunter Foster as Seymour was wonderfully dorky and charming all at once. His role as Bobby Strong in “Urinetown” is a much more strongly written character with a joke in every line. So naturally I prefered him in that show. Similarly, I saw Kerry Butler play the daughter in “Bat Boy” twice, a much funnier role. She was a good Audrey. That role is nearly impossible to bring something new to; Ellen Greene perfected it on stage and in the film. Its a lost cause to try to be better. But she put forth a great effort. Her voice is one of the most distinct of any Broadway actress, and it really sets her apart from the rest.

The three Ronette girls were making their Broadway debuts, good for them. As solo singers they were great. As blenders, they were not. Nor were they dancers. Not that they are dance roles, but c’mon-this is the Great White Way. There are singers out there that are better blenders and dancers, and I wonder how they got those roles.

Rob Bartlett was good as Mushnik, but I spent the whole time thinking about the guy that played it when I did the show and how much funnier he was (Seth McFarlane-creator of “Family Guy” tv show).

Props to Douglas Sills for looking like Steve Martin but not playing the role (Orin Scrivello DDS) as he did. He was much more militant/Naziesqe (rather than the traditional dumb macho greaser elvis-type). I wish he had gone much further with that choice, he seemed bored with the show. They all kind of did.

All in all, I had a really great time watching the show. I wonder I could have had as good of a time staying home watching my video tape of my production, however. Oh wait, we didn’t have a giant monster plant that came out and ate the audience at the end of the show. That was cool.