Little Shop Of Horrors, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken, is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film of the same name. Ashman and Menken made many changes from the original film, such as moving the location from Los Angeles to New York and eliminating many characters in lieu of a smaller ensemble. Arguably the largest change is in the ending, where instead of Mushnik and Audrey surviving to see the plant's carnivorous activities (as in the film), nearly all the characters are devoured by the plant.
This musical was only the second collaboration between Ashman and Menken, the first being a 1979 stage adaptation of a Kurt Vonnegut novel. In writing the book, Ashman chose to use the frame of the story to satirize many different topics, including: science fiction, "B" movies, musical comedy, and the Faust legend (in which a man sells his soul to the Devil). In his music, Menken used many of the musical styles of the early 1960s, including rock and roll, doo-wop , and Motown.
Little Shop Of Horrors premiered on May 6, 1982 at the Workshop of the Players' Art Theatre. It then opened off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre in New York City's East Village on July 27 of the same year. The production was directed by book writer and lyricist Howard Ashman and starred Lee Wilkof, Ellen Greene, and Ron Taylor. It closed on November 1, 1987 with 2,209 performances under its belt. When propositioned for a Broadway transfer, Ashman elected not to, claiming the show was perfect for where it was. The musical also had its West End premiere at the Comedy Theatre, produced by Cameron Mackintosh. It ran for 813 performances from January 1, 1983 to October 5, 1985 and starred Barry James and Ellen Greene (reprising her role from New York).
A revival of Little Shop Of Horrors was planned in 2003 with an ultimate goal of Broadway. A pre-Broadway tryout began at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida on May 16, 2003. Several people from the original 1982 production were involved; Lee Wilkof (the original Seymour) was cast as Mushnik, Connie Grapo (Wilkof's wife and the assistant to Ashman on the original production) directed, and Martin P. Robinson (the original designer of the Audrey II puppet) enlisted friends from the Jim Henson studio to create more high-tech puppets. In addition to Wilkof, the production featured Hunter Thompson and Alice Ripley. Mixed reviews caused the production to lose funding, but Broadway director Jerry Zaks quickly took the helm. The revival finally opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre on October 2, 2003, featuring a completely new cast with the exception of Thompson. It utilized a bigger theatre to expand its instrumentation and buffing/writing new songs entirely. It closed on August 22, 2004 after 372 performances.
The musical has seen subsequent success after the Broadway revival. A U.S. national tour ran from August 10, 2004 to April 16, 2006. A London revival started running on November 17, 2006 at the Menier Chocolate Factory, featuring a new Audrey II design. Becoming a success, the production transferred twice in its run, to both the Duke of Work's Theatre and the Ambassadors Theatre, before closing on September 8, 2007. A UK touring production then launched in 2008.