![]() ![]() Admittedly this is a rather rarefied idea for a musical comedy, but the evening is as entertaining as it is exotic. As a result, there is a litany of changes, not the least of which occurs because the genre of “musical” is imposed on the text.Īn early review remarked “ Little Shop of Horrors, at the WPA Theater…is a Faustian musical about a timid clerk who sells his soul to a man-eating Cactus. This adaptation focused less on directly translating the screen to the stage, but rather used the original as a story to be inspired by. However, when Little Shop of Horrors made its Broadway debut in 1981 this phenomenon did not have the popularity it has today. ![]() The transition from the screen to the stage has become very popular in recent years with feature films such as Legally Blonde, Shrek, Tuck Everlasting and an array of Disney movies all making the leap. While the original film was a low budget horror comedy, as the text of Little Shop of Horrors was adapted to other media it began to gain hallmarks of other genres. ![]() I figure that if you’ve gone through school and the halfback is getting all the girls, and you get a chance to make films, and the format of the film is that the halfback gets the girl, you may deliberately undercut him. And so I deliberately play up other people than the hero. I may personally rebel against the concept of the hero. In writing the original Seymore, Corman described his resistance to the idea of “The Hero.” The director Roger Corman had embraced a provocateur image (think Guardians of the Galaxy’s James Gunn). A 1961 Variety magazine movie review may have put it best: “ Little Shop of Horrors is kind of one big sick joke, but it’s essentially harmless and good-natured.” This critical reception was not unexpected as audiences had anticipated that the film would border on being of poor taste. The original film had no aims of becoming the multiple medium cult classic brand it has become today. Still from the 1961 Little Shop of Horrors film, directed by Roger Corman The story of Little Shop of Horrors has taken the form of a dark comedy horror film, an incredibly successful and lucrative Broadway musical at the beginning of the long careers of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, and the popular cult classic film directed by Frank Oz starring Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene. Beginning with this film and spanning 26 years, three notable adaptations were made, each with its own unique alterations to the material, offering insight to the cultural landscapes of the decade in which each was made. A lesser-known fact about this popular stage show was its source material, a 1961 dark comedy by the same name, directed by the “King of B Movies” Roger Corman. Little Shop of Horrors has become one of the most popular musicals for high school and local community theatres. An awkward florist, a budding relationship, a sociopathic dentist, a carnivorous plant with a craving for human flesh these iconic characters bring one story to mind. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |