Track Listing

1. Prologue / Little Shop of Horrors
2. Skid Row (Downtown)
3. Da-Doo
4. Grow for Me
5. WSKID
6. Ya Never Know
7. Somewhere That's Green
8. Closed for Renovation
9. Dentist!
10. Mushnik & Son
11. Feed Me (Git It)
12. Now (It's Just the Gas)
13. Act 1 Finale
14. Entr'acte
15. Call Backin the Morning
16. Suddenly Seymour
17. Suppertime
18. The Meek Shall Inherit
19. Sominex / Suppertime II
20. Somewhere That's Green (Reprise)
21. Bigger Than Hula-Hoops
22. Finale Ultimo (Don't Feed the Plants)
23. A Little Dental Music
24. The Worse He Treats Me
25. We'll Have Tomorrow
26. I Found a Hobby
27. Bad (written for the film version)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49853 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording

Amazon.com
Does this score kick butt or what? While the staging of the 2003 Little Shop of Horrors revival is entertaining enough, the recording is even more rewarding. Since you're not distracted by the sight of a huge plant devouring one cast member after another, you can focus on Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's ace songs. No wonder the show is a high-school and summer-stock fave, packed as it is with appealing characters and catchy 1960s-flavored tunes. As Audrey, Kerry Butler won't make anybody forget Ellen Greene, but she certainly is lovely. Hunter Foster's Seymour strikes a perfect balance of sweetness and klutzy desperation as he delivers perfect interpretations of all his songs. Even better, this cast album is a complete rendition of the show, unlike the recording of the 1982 Off-Broadway production ("Call Back in the Morning" is now included for instance), and comes with a glossy booklet. Cherry on top: Five previously unreleased songs are included in demo versions performed by the show's authors. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Little Revival of Horrors- a fantastic rock musical gone Disney garbage
Little Shop of Horrors is my all time favorite musical- I own the movie and I'm even in the musical that my school is holding. I even loved the original Roger Corman film- in fact, the whole Little Shop of Horrors story is fascinating to me, and the transformation from old school low budget movie to stunning Off-Broadway was fantastic- this was JUST the movie.

There have been many revivals of the show, and this is probably the latest one. And I must say, it isn't bad, but it's definitely not good either. Here's why:

SEYMOUR: OK, could have been better. When it comes to Musical Theatre, nobody can top Rick Moranis' portrayal of Seymour. The guy playing Seymour here struggles on the "I don't know! I don't know! Should I go and perform mutilations?" part.

AUDREY: Ugh, don't even wanna talk about it. Her vocals on Somewhere That's Green make me wanna kill myself.

ORIN: Not bad, but he could cut down on the sustaining notes.

MUSHNIK: Pretty good, nothing special. WOrks on Suppertime though.

THE DU-WOPS: 2 of them are great, the other one is AWFUL!!!!! She totally ruins Da-Doop.

THE ENSEMBLE: Better than the main cast. Great singers, especially the wino on "Skid Row" who goes "Then you go...".

THE ORCHESTRA- this is where it REALLY fails. Over orchestrated and Disney-like. I felt like I was listening to the OST for Cinderella. THis is supposed to be a ROCK musical, not a Disney peice of trash.

Overall, buy this if you are an extremist, but be warned- there's better versions of this musical out there for sure. Try the 1986 film or the original broadway cast.

I find this a more complete, satisfying meal than the movie soundtrack, which seems to me more like an hors d'oeurve platter
Let me start out by saying I too love the movie, as it was my first exposure to this show, it wasn't until years later I found out it was based on the Roger Corman movie. And I cannot argue that Ellen Greene OWNS the role of Audrey (as the originator of the role on Broadway, she just ran with it and made it her own), and Levi Stubbs as Audrey II is perfect as well. I was also pleasantly surprised that Rick Moranis held his own, I never would have thought of him as a singer.

That said, the movie and it's attendant soundtrack are not perfect. First and foremost, the lyrics are muddled throughout, to the point of incoherency in a number of spots. That's a shame, because Howard Ashman's playful lyrics and verbal gymnastics are, for me anyway, the star of the show. (I miss Howard terribly, and frequently wonder what other masterpieces he and Alan Menken would have created, after their stint at Disney. But I digress...) Also, there are some quite talky parts of the movie that seemed odd for a musical, although Mean Green Mother from Outer Space was written specifically for the movie, and is a worthy addition. Finally, I heard the ending had been changed, due to some bad test screenings. I know the original ending exists somewhere, and I would love to see it.

But all those problems are resolved with this magnificent CD. This is the complete show, with all the songs and the original ending, which is wonderfully dark. The lyrics are crystal clear, and there is far more dialogue from the show incorporated, instead of the truncated songs from the movie soundtrack. I especially like the counterpoint in Now (It's Just the Gas), where Seymour sings the exact same sentiments 2 different ways in consecutive stanzas, a fine example of Ashman's clever wordplay, on display throughout. Mushnik and Son is a twisted version of If I Were A Rich Man, from Fiddler On the Roof. There are a number of other short songs cut from the movie that just enrich the entire show, weaving as more complete story than the movie soundtrack.

While the music and lyrics are perfect, and I agree that Micheal Leon Wooley's Audrey II does not hold a candle to Levi Stubbs, I think it's time to lay off Kerry Butler as Audrey. No, she is not Ellen Greene, but who else is? It must be daunting, to have to live up to that original performance, as ingrained as it obviously is in these reviewer's minds. In all honesty, I prefer her more focused and human Audrey to Ms. Greene's cartoony Betty Boop voice frequently over-the-top and mannered phrasing, especially in Somewhere That's Green. I found Ms. Butler's performance to be much more down-to-Earth and heart-rending, instead of making it a big "Look at me, I'm on Broadway" number. But that is one man's opinion. Also, she gets to sing the tragic Reprise of that song, cut from the movie, in favor of the new ending.

Look at this show as the director's cut of your favorite movie, remixed to sparkling clear stereo with added scenes that fully flesh out the story (the songs cut from the movie), and even deleted scenes (the demos, all of which would have been fine additions to the show, with We'll Have Tomorrow being my personal favorite). I find this to be a more complete, satisfying meal than the movie soundtrack, which seems to me more like an over-stuffed hors d'oeurve platter. And if you still miss the movie, do what I do: Play Mean Green Mother from Outer Space either before Sominex / Suppertime II (so as not to destroy the flow between that song and the Somewhere That's Green Reprise) or after (where it seems to logically fit).

But no matter how you play it, this is a worthy successor (and is in some ways superior) to an obviously much-revered soundtrack.

A Spectacular Find!
I bought this CD on a whim. Previously, I had only heard three songs from the show (Grow For Me, Somewhere That's Green, and Suddenly Seymour) and I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. Usually I am sketchy about buying CDs I have never heard before, but based on the musicals popularity, I gave it a try.

And boy am I glad I did. I experienced instant gratification when I played this CD for the first time and immediately played through it a second time. I have always been a fan of Alan Menken's music and this is definately one of his best works. The music is very well written and the orchestrations are full and very satisfying. Micheal-Leon Wooley as Audrey II steals it for me.

As for all of you Original Off-Broadway Fans, I don't see any reason to bash this recording. True, I didnt grow up with the simplified version, nor have I even heard it, but being a huge fan of another very simple, Off-Broadway show (The Fantasticks) I can understand why you would be a "Little Shop" Purist and hate this "overblown" production. But in my mind, I see this as a show by itself, and not a re-due of the original. I was very pleased with this CD and I wonder why it took me so long to catch on.