Little Shop of Horrors is a
rock musical by composer
Alan Menken and writer
Howard Ashman, about a nerdy florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical was based on the low-budget 1960
black comedy The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by
Roger Corman. The music, composed by Menken in the style of 1960s
rock and roll,
doo-wop and early
Motown, included several show-stoppers including "Skid Row (Downtown)", "Somewhere That's Green", and "Suddenly, Seymour", as well as the title song.
In addition to the original long-running 1982
off-Broadway production and subsequent
Broadway production, the musical has been performed all over the world, including in
Buenos Aires,
Sydney,
Vienna,
São Paulo,
Toronto,
Copenhagen,
Helsinki,
Paris,
Berlin,
Athens,
Budapest,
Reykjavík,
Jerusalem,
Rome,
Tokyo,
Zurich,
Athens,
Barcelona,
Cologne,
Mexico City,
Auckland,
Oslo,
Singapore City,
Johannesburg,
Madrid,
Stockholm,
Seinajoki,
Akureyri,
Vaasa, and
London. The musical was also performed in
Bogota, Colombia in July 2008. Because of its small cast and relatively simple orchestrations, it has become popular with
community theatre and
high school groups.
[TIME magazine reported in its May 26, 2008 issue, p. 51, that this musical ranked as the most frequently produced musical by U.S. high schools in 2007.] The musical was also made into a 1986
film of the same name, directed by
Frank Oz.