The Biograph

Little Shop of Horrors – Porchlight Music Theatre – Biograph Theater – Through Dec. 13, 2026

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I’ve now seen the designer run, tech rehearsal and official opening of this production, from workout duds and a piano in a rehearsal studio to costumes, wigs, a lively orchestra, a full set and actual sound effects, as opposed to someone at the director’s table saying ring-a-ling in lieu of a bell when a door opened.

Also, don’t be scared, but I swear that Audrey II (the person-eating plant from outer space, in case you’ve been living in the Himalayas the past 65 years) has actually grown in the process.

According to the Natural History Museum website, “there are currently around 630 species of carnivorous plant known to science.” They are divided into five categories – Snap Traps, Pitfall Traps, Adhesive Traps, Suction Traps and Snare Traps. I would guess that Audrey II is a snap trap but it might be a combination or a different kind altogether, as this list is based on known, earth species.

Spoiler alert – Audrey II is really a puppet. I have a puppet thing, but not a fetish. (Certainly not like Woogie’s shoe fetish in There’s Something About Mary.) I’ve seen Avenue Q multiple times and one year attended the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which almost took me in the opposite direction, as if Pennywise had shape-shifted from a clown to a puppet.

Anyway, a shout out to Josh Bernaski for his work manipulating Audrey II in this show. As someone remarked to me – it must be awfully hot in there.

As is the norm, Audrey II’s off-stage voice is performed by someone else, in this case Juwon Tyrel Perry, who, thanks to some pre-show negotiations with Alan Mencken, gets to show his face and treat us, as a form of encore, to the Oscar-nominated song, not normally in the stage version of the show, Mean Green Mother from Outer Space.

Steve McDonagh, a foil of sorts as the shop owner Mr. Mushnik, not to be confused with the shop owner Mr. Maraczek from She Loves Me, provides the expert glue from start to finish.

Adam Fane, playing 10 parts, with different voices and different physical presences, once again brings unending comedic energy, especially as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. Normally, I might say that he steals the show, but that’s tough when the leads present unforgettable performances.

Alina Taber honors Ellen Greene, the revered, original stage and movie musical Audrey, while bringing her own interpretive touches to the role, including one walk-off reaction that brings a roar from the audience. Coincidentally, Greene’s father was a dentist, though hopefully not a sadist.

In the other iconic role, Andrew Linden, as Seymour Krelborn, is as big a nebbish as you’d ever want to see, until he isn’t. As Agatha Christie once wrote – “everyone is a potential murderer.”

Because everything old is new again, Little Shop has its own, updated version of the Greek Chorus, the Street Urchins, played here to the hilt (Megan Hilty payed Audrey in the 2018 Broadway Center Stage production) by Kiana J. Beverly, Donnalesly Fondjo and Aneesah Jemei, with voices and dance moves that would amaze the ancients, just as they thrilled today’s audience.

This is the best stage version of Little Shop I’ve seen. I heartily recommend that you buy a ticket and plant yourself in the audience.

Little Shop of Horrors – Porchlight Music Theatre – Designer Run – October 24, 2026

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While watching the designer run for Porchlight’s upcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors, it struck me that there were several similarities to the movie Gremlins that hadn’t previously occurred to me. Spoiler alert: you already know all this.

In Little Shop, the plant (Audrey II) is purchased in a market from a Chinese merchant. In Gremlins, the Mogwai (Gizmo) is purchased from a Chinatown shopkeeper.

In Little Shop, the problems start when Seymour feeds the plant. In Gremlins, feeding the animals after midnight starts the havoc.

In Little Shop, the plant’s reproduction exacerbates the problem. In Gremlins, the same happens.

Joe Dante directed Gremlins. Joe Dante started his career with Roger Corman, who directed the original Little Shop movie.

A few words about designer runs from an article on TimeLine Theatre’s website. It’s “a complete run of the entire play that everyone in attendance accepts in advance is not going to be good.” WRONG. This one was a blast, including some interesting off stage goings on involving a large carnivorous plant that you don’t get to see from the audience in the actual run.

“Given that it is the first time the actors have an audience, there is always a need to defuse the situation for them – to remind them that everyone understands they are about to witness a train wreck.” WRONG AGAIN. No humans, plants or trains were harmed in this designer run and the actors, and the few lucky attendees, had a great time. I hope the actors don’t tone down any of their hamming it up in the upcoming performances. It was FUN.

The show opens at the Biograph Theater on November 4, but I hope to report more before then, after I see the last tech rehearsal, when I’ll be a plant in the audience.

New Faces Sing Broadway 1976 – Porchlight Music Theatre – The Biograph – Sept. 16, 2026

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New faces, new season, new venue. Add in a new director (long-time singing and acting favorite Lorenzo Rush Jr. stepping into the role for this show), a new host (the wonderful Erica Stephen, who wowed us in Cabaret, among other shows), and a new energy resulting from all of the above (I even walked up and down the stairs to the second floor theater instead of taking the elevator) and you’ve got a great evening.

The new venue gave the new director and the new faces a new freedom to explore staging and performance possibilities previously unavailable in these annual shows. So, instead of a parade of people walking on and off the stage, we had an actual set that allowed interaction throughout the night, thereby enhancing the experience and allowing performers to show off a little more of their personalities.

The event still features a few more unfamiliar songs than I would like, as there is very little room in my brain to process new information, but the mix was good, and the ever-present photos shown on a screen behind the stage and the background information articulated by Stephan were easily interesting enough to keep my mind from wandering. Not once, until now, did I think about John Dillinger having been shot as he left The Biograph after seeing Manhattan Melodrama. I do wish, however, that autocorrect would stop trying to change Biograph to Biography.

To add to everything else, there was actual room to mingle in the lobby and there were comfortable seats in this, the smaller of the two spaces in the building. I peeked into the larger one, which will be the site of Little Shop of Horrors, starting November 4, and it looked terrific. Suddenly I want to see more and can’t wait to see what Porchlight feeds me in that production.