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TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has released teaser photos for its production of Little Shop of Horrors, reset in San Francisco’s Chinatown. In this quirky hit musical, told through doo-wop ditties by a trio of neighborhood girls, sweet florist Seymour finds himself catapulted into instant stardom when he cultivates an otherworldly star, a very unusual. Highlighting the multicultural cast, director Jeffrey Lo moves the setting to San Francisco’s Chinatown, exploring the cross-cultural community fostered by marginalized people of color. Little Shop of Horrors features an iconic score from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (the Oscar-winning team behind Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin), providing a light-hearted adventure suitable for parents, grandparents and even the youngest (recommended from 13 years old).
Check out the photos below!
Little Shop of Horrors will be presented from November 30 to December 24, 2022 at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Memberships for the 2022/23 season are currently available and single tickets (starting at $35) will go on sale Wednesday, November 2, 2022. For more information, the public can visit TheatreWorks.org or call (877)-662-8978.
Little Shop of Horrors is based on the cult classic B-movie by Roger Corman and Charles Griffith. The musical premiered Off-Off-Broadway at Howard Ashman’s WPA Theater before moving Off-Broadway to the Orpheum Theater, where it played for five years. Little Shop of Horrors then became an Oscar-nominated film starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene and Steve Martin, which was called “a full-fledged, pretty winning musical” by The New York Times. It has been performed in theaters around the world, including at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in 1986, with a recent critically acclaimed Off-Broadway revival, prompting The New York Times to note: “This triumphantly revitalized musical has its own message. sneaky for an age in which fame is considered a constitutional right: Embrace fame at your peril. He’s a killer.
TheatreWorks has assembled a talented cast for Little Shop of Horrors. Bay Area theater veteran Phil Wong (he/him) stars as Seymour Krelborn, a florist who makes a Faustian bargain with vicious vegetation. Seen in last season’s holiday production of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Show, TheatreWorks’ world premiere of Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga, in its Oskar School Tours, and in the TheatreWorks New Works online production Currency with Bay Area Theater Festival 2021 Cypher, Wong is a Bay Area-based theater artist, writer, and musician, and a member of the inaugural Bay Area #BARS Cohort. He trained in physical theater at the Accademia dell’ Arte in Arezzo, Italy. He has been seen at many regional theaters including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, California Shakespeare Theatre, Shotgun Players, Cutting Ball Theatre, Ray of Light Theatre, Los Altos Stage Company and Hillbarn Theatre. Phil is also co-founder of Bay Area Theater Cypher.
Sumi Yu (she/her) makes her TheaterWorks Silicon Valley debut as Audrey, a sweet romantic who is unlucky in love and works with Seymour at Mr. Mushnik’s flower shop. Seen New York Off-Broadway at City Center Encores! and Lincoln Center Theatre, Yu has also appeared on stage at regional theaters including La Jolla Playhouse, Repertory Theater of St. Louis, TheatreWorksUSA, A Contemporary Theater (ACT) of Connecticut, Alley Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse and Music Theater Wichita. Yu’s film and TV credits include Starz’s “Heels” and NBC’s “Rise.”
Back at TheatreWorks where he’s been seen in M. Butterfly, Red, Bat Boy The Musical, Pacific Overtures and Jayne Eyre, Lawrence-Michael C. Arias (he/him) plays Mr. Mushnik, the owner of a failing florist and patron of Seymour and Audrey. Arias has also been seen performing at the Hillbarn Theatre, City Lights Theater Company, South Valley Civic Theatre, Los Altos Stage Company and Woodminster Summer Musicals.
Katrina Lauren McGraw (her) makes her TheatreWorks main stage debut as the voice of Audrey II, a conniving carnivorous plant that catapults Seymour to fame. McGraw’s theater credits include performances with American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Center Repertory Company, New Conservatory Theater Center, 42nd Street Moon, Town Hall Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse and Bay Area Musicals. As seen on TheatreWorks’ “Oskar” Educational Tour, Brandon Leland (he/him) will be puppeteer Audrey II in his main stage debut. Leland has performed with the San Francisco Playhouse, Broadway By the Bay, Pear Theater and Foothill Music Theater.
Nick Nakashima (he/him) returns to TheatreWorks as Orin Scrivello, a selfish and sadistic dentist, along with other characters. Nakashima starred in TheatreWorks’ Sense and Sensibility last season, as well as Jane Austen’s two TheatreWorks EMMA productions (2007 and 2015), The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue and A Little Night Music. He has been seen in the TheatreWorks New Works Festival workshops of EMMA, Burnt Part Boys and Jane Austen’s Unlock’d. Nakashima has also appeared in productions at 42nd Street Moon, Foothill Music Theater, San Jose Musical Theater, Jewel Theater Company, and American Musical Theater in San Jose.
Naima Alakham, Alia Hodge and Lucca Troutman make their TheatreWorks debuts as Crystal, Chiffon and Ronnette, respectively, a trio of neighborhood girls who act as the show’s Greek chorus. Recently, while playing the role of Effie in Paramount Theater’s Dreamgirls, Naima Alakham (her) also performed with NYU’s New Studio Tisch on Broadway. Alia Hodge (her) has been seen on the national tours of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Rent. Hodge has also appeared with the Berkshire Theater Group, New Haven Symphony, Speakeasy Stage Company and North Shore Music Theatre. Her television credits include performing as a backup singer/dancer for Coldplay on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” and she performed with the cast of Beautiful: The Musical on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” Lucca Troutman (her) has performed with Berkeley Playhouse, ODC Theatre, Oakland Classical Shakespeare Company and New Britain Theater Company.
Little Shop of Horrors features musical direction by William Liberatore, choreography by William Thomas Hodgson, scenic design by Christopher Fitzer, costume design by Fumiko Bielefeldt, lighting design by Wen-Ling Liao, and sound design by Jeff mockups. Taylor McQuesten is stage manager, with Emily Wolf as assistant stage manager.
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