Florida Studio Theatre returns to ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ to open 50th season

Actor Sam Seferian is living out one of his lifelong dreams playing Seymour Krelborn in Florida Studio Theatre’s new production of “Little Shop of Horrors.”

“This was the first musical I ever performed in in the second grade. I was the youngest kid in the show and I came in guns blazing wanting to play Seymour,” Seferian recalled before a recent rehearsal.

He was cast instead as a narrator with a few lines that were added to give a few boys in school something to do in the show. But he fell in love with it and watched the 1986 film version with Rick Moranis as Seymour countless times.

“I knew I was not the typical leading man type, let’s say. Even now there are so few roles that I can play where I’m a leading man,” Seferian said. “Seymour is not a typical leading man. He’s kind of the hero in the story even though it’s a little off kilter. I don’t usually get to play characters that are so dimensional.”

Fans of the 1982 musical by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken know that Seymour is a clerk in a Skid Row flower shop, struggling to survive. One day, he discovers an unusual plant at a market, brings it back and nurses it, and bringing lots of attention to himself and Mushnik's flower shop. But he eventually discovers it's a man-eating plant with a growing need for human blood. Seymour falls in love and is protective with his colleague Audrey, who is dating a sadistic dentist. He also has mixed feelings about Mr. Mushnik, who treats him better than most people, which isn’t saying much.

It is based on Roger Corman’s 1960 film of the same title.

Florida Studio Theatre first staged the show in 1987 and is now bringing it back to mark the opening of its 50th anniversary season. This new version, directed by associate director Sean Daniels and choreographed by Jim Weaver, opens as a hit off-Broadway revival recently surpassed 1,000 performances.

An enduring hit musical

The musical has maintained an enduring popularity. In recent seasons it was produced by both the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe and the Sarasota Players. Daniels said science fiction elements (the plant suddenly appears to Seymour after a total eclipse) are part of the appeal. But mostly it’s an always-timely look at the haves and have nots, raising the question of what would you do if you had the opportunity to make some big money and advance your life and those you care about.

“It’s a show about class,” he said. “The opening song is about how terrible life is, but it’s a sparkly song with lyrics about how things aren’t great. And then it asks what would you do if you had one window to change all your misfortune, get the girl, change everything.”

Seferian stars with Samantha Duval as his co-worker and love interest, Audrey, Joel Blum as Mushnik; John Gregorio as the dentist, Orin Scrivello; and Derrick Cobey as the voice of Audrey II, the plant that Seymour nurtures. Katelyn Bowman, Jameelah Leaundra and Desiree Tolodziecki play a trio of urchins named for early pop singing groups – Ronette, Crystal and Chiffon. David Gaztambide is the puppeteer who brings a growing Audrey II to life.

The musical has become so ubiquitous that several of the songs have become contemporary standards, from the opening “Skid Row” to “Somewhere That’s Green” (Audrey’s dream of a house with a white picket fence in the suburbs) and “Suddenly Seymour,” in which the shop clerk vows to protect Audrey.

“Some of the songs are the the greatest songs written for American musical theater,” Daniels said. “Alan Menken is by far a genius. ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ says for all of us, what would you do, what are your morals, how far would you push it?"

As Seymour, Seferian has to tread a tricky line. Audiences have to love him and root for him even though he’s doing despicable things.

“It’s his desperation at the beginning that’s so rare for a musical,” Seferian said. “That gets people instantly on his side. He’s so mistreated by his boss and the world that you can’t totally blame him for going for more.”

Creating a production specific to Sarasota

Daniel said he is staging a production designed for Sarasota audiences, who don’t seem “interested in the kitsch of the show. They’re not interested in the whimsy for whimsy’s sake. They’re ready for these musicals to be explored. They want them to be charming, but they’re more interested in what is really going on.”

Seferian notes that Ashman “wants everything played real and honestly. There’s a line in the script that the most important thing in the show is the heart.”

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So how does finally playing Seymour live up to his long-held expectations?

Seferian says he’s “in heaven. To me, it’s a perfect show. Obviously it’s one of my favorites. I feel like the way it’s being directed is so honest and being so rooted in reality and emotion and that’s a joy. “

The production is designed by frequent FST collaborators, the sisters Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay, with costumes by Harry Nadal, lighting by Ben Rawson and sound by Nicholas Christensen. Darren Server is the musical director.

Typical of most FST productions, there will be a focus on the story, characters and performers and less on the design elements. “The design is inventive and smart and effect, but it’s not about that. It’s about the performances and about the material, and about a plant that has to eat people.”

‘Little Shop of Horrors’

Book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken. Directed by Sean Daniels. Florida Studio Theatre Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St., Sarasota. Nov. 15-Jan. 7. Tickets are $29-$49. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida Studio Theatre becomes a ‘Little Shop of Horrors’