Little Shop of Horrors

Seymour Krelbourn is a young man working in a flower shop for Mr. Mushnik - a crabby old man who took Seymour in as an orphaned child. Seymour is in love with Audrey, a young woman with a pure heart and a sadistic boyfriend, who also works in the shop. But business is bad and Mushnik is about to shut down until a strange new plant Seymour has discovered begins to attract in customers and change the shop's fortunes. As word of the new plant spreads, Seymour becomes something of a celebrity, but fame has it's price. The plant, which Seymour has named Audrey II, feeds only on human blood and as it continues to grown Seymour cannot donate enough to satisfy it. Seymour is driven to murder to murder to satisfy the plant's demands but soon begins to realise the plant has evil plans threatening all mankind.

WARNING SPOILER!!! - Click here for Short Synopsis (Teaser)

Act I

Prologue - Life is hard on skid row, but on one day in September something strange is happening as Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon, three girls from the neighbourhood, warn of a new danger lurking in the Little Shop of Horrors.

Outside Mushnik's flower shop, Mr. Mushnik shoo's the girls away from where they are loitering and asks how they expect to better themselves if they are not at school, they answer that "better ourselves? Mister, when you from skid row, aint no such thing." The other inhabitants of Skid Row join in the lament, among them Audrey, a young woman with a pure heart but tacky taste in fashion, and Seymour Krelbourn, a young man who was taken in as an orphan boy by Mushnik to work in his shop. They each long to escape to a better life elsewhere. Audrey also works for the cranky Mr. Mushnik, but the shop has not been doing well and Mushnik announces he is going to close down. Seymour brings out a strange new plant he has been cultivating and he and Audrey suggest putting it in the shop window to try to attract in more customers. Mushnik dismisses the idea but almost immediately a passing customer is drawn inside to ask about the strange new plant. Seymour explains that he found the plant whilst he was browsing in wholesale flower district (Do Doo). There was a sudden eclipse of the sun and when the light returned it was right there, where he was sure it hadn't been before. He named it Audrey II, after his co-worker (who he is secretly in love with). The customer buys one hundred dollars worth of roses and Mushnik tells Seymour to put the plant back in the window and take good care of it.

But the little plant, which looks like a Venus flytrap with a single large pod, does not appear to be thriving despite Seymour's best efforts and he pleads with it to please "Grow for Me." He accidentally pricks his finger on a Rose thorn and Audrey II immediately responds, opening it's pod and leaning toward the blood. Seymour realises what the plant needs and drips the blood from his finger into the open pod. As Audrey grows, so does the shop's business and Seymour becomes something of a celebrity (Ya Never Know). Meanwhile Audrey turns up on the street with an injured arm caused by her abusive boyfriend and the three girls tell her to leave him and find a nice guy to be with - they know just the one for her, Seymour! Audrey already loves Seymour but does not feel she is worthy of him, although she dreams of a happy suburban life they could have together "Somewhere That's Green".

Business at Mushnik's is booming and the shop is temporarily Closed for Renovation. Audrey's sadistic boyfriend, Orin Scrivello, arrives on his motorcycle, clad in black leather. The three girls berate him for his treatment of Audrey but he is unmoved. He enjoys inflicting pain which is why his mother advised that the only career for him was to be a Dentist!. He roughly orders Audrey about and advises Seymour that he could do better for himself leaving Mushnik and exploiting his plant for himself. Mushnik overhears and, fearing the loss of the source of his sudden profitability, he proposes adopting Seymour and renaming the business "Mushnik & Son." Not realising his ulterior motives, Seymour, who has always wanted to be part of a family, accepts.

By now the plant has grown substantially, and Seymour is having problems feeding it, making himself weak from all the blood he has been donating. When it is not getting enough blood the plan reveals that it can speak and demands "Feed Me(Git It)." It promises Seymour that if he brings it the blood it needs, suggesting murder, all his dreams will come true. Seymour refuses but then, seeing Orin abusing Audrey, decides for her sake to sacrifice Orin to the plant. He goes to see Orin at his surgery and pulls a gun but is not able to bring himself to shoot. Preparing to go to work on Seymour, Orin first doses himself with Nitrous Oxide, for pleasure, but the mask becomes stuck. He asks Seymour to help him remove it, but Seymour leaves him to it. Orin overdoses and literally dies laughing (Now (It's Just the Gas)). Back at Mushnik's, Seymour cuts up the body and feeds it to Audrey II (Act I Finale).

Act II

The flower shop is busier than ever and Seymour and Audrey can hardly keep pace with the constant ringing of the numerous telephones that have now been installed, unable to cope anymore, they begin telling callers to "Call Back in the Morning". Audrey has been depressed since Orin's disappearance. Seymour thinks it is because she misses him but Audrey reveals she is in fact releived that she no longer needs to be afraid of him. The problem is that she blames herself because she wished him dead. Seymour tries to comfort her and they finally reveal their true feelings for one another (Suddenly, Seymour). Seymour promises to protect her and Audrey promises she loved Seymour even before he was famous - they plan to leave and start a new life together.

Audrey leaves and Mushnik returns after being questioned by the police over Orin's disappearance since a piece of notepaper from the shop was found in the dentist's office. He has noticed spots of blood on the shop floor and accuses Seymour of murder - threatening to turn him in to the police. Whilst Mushnik is waiting, Audrey II, now grown huge, tells Seymour he will lose everything, including Audrey, if he does not get rid of Mushnik (Suppertime). Desperate, Seymour tricks Musnik into thinking he has hidden the shop's takings inside Audrey II's pod. When Mushnik leans inside to look, Audrey II chomps down on him and swallows him whole. Seymour now benefits from his adoption by Mushnik, taking over the running of the shop, as well as being beseiged by reporters, TV producers and showbiz agents wanting to book him for various events including a TV gardening show and a lecture tour ("The Meek Shall Inherit").

As Seymour works on his speech for a lecture tour, Audrey II again demands to be fed. Seymour threatens to kill it just as Audrey walks to find him in an agitated state. Concerned at his strange behaviour, she asks when Mushnik will be back from visiting relatives in his homeland and Seymour tells her he is likely to be gone a very long time. Seymour asks Audrey if she would still love him if he was not famous and she promises him she would. Reassured that he longer needs Audrey II, Seymour sends Audrey home and determines to kill the plant - tomorrow, after the "LIFE" magazine interview. Audrey II, still clamouring for human blood, reluctantly agrees to accept a meal of beef and Seymour goes off to fetch it. Meanwhile Audrey has been unable to sleep (Sominex) and returns to the shop hoping to talk more with Seymour. He is not there and she is shocked when the plant speaks to her but does not sense any danger when it asks her for water. When she approaches to water it, however, the plant grabs her and attempts to devour her (Suppertime II).

Seymour returns just in time to pull her out of it's maw but she is mortally wounded and realises she is dying. She now knows everything but forgives Seymour and begs him, after she dies, to feed her body to Audrey II so that she can always be with him and will, after all, be "Somewhere That's Green". She dies in his arms and Seymour gently lowers her into the plant's gaping maw.

The next day, a botanist arrives representing a major company who want to take leaf cuttings from Audrey II to sell nationwide - soon there will be an Audrey II in every home. The botanist goes off to get things organised and Seymour realises with horror that this was Audrey II's plan all along - World domination by devouring every member of the human race. He tries to kill the plant, shooting it and throwing rat poisin into it's maw but his efforts have no effect. Desperately, clutching a machete, he t5hrows himself inside hoping to kill it from within but is quiclky eaten. Thne botanist returns with the three local girls and begins instructing in taking the leaf cuttings she needs for distribution.

Epilogue - Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon relate how, in the months that followed, other Audrey II's began appearing all over the world, tricking their owners into feeding them blood. The original Audrey II then opens it's leaves tp reveal the faces of Orin, Mushnik, Audrey and Seymour who implore everyone "Don't Feed the Plants [Finale ultimo]".