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Just don't call her Audrey II.
Lena Hall, the thrilling-voiced actor-singer who won a 2014 Tony Award for playing Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, will take over the pivotal role of Audrey in the hit Off Broadway revival of the musical Little Shop of Horrors in early September, Time Out has learned. Audrey, a hard-knocked but lovable gutter flower and florist, was first incarnated on stage and screen by Ellen Greene, and is currently played by Tammy Blanchard. Hall will step into her teetering high heels on September 6, 2022.
In addition to her Broadway credits, which include the original cast of Kinky Boots, Hall has brought her rangy rock belt to many concert engagements, from downtown clubs to the Josh Groban concert circuit. She seems certain to electrify in Audrey's signature numbers, "Somewhere That's Green" and "Suddenly Seymour."
Also joining the Little Shop company will be the charming Andrew Call in the multicharacter comic track—currently played by Christian Borle, who is leaving to star in Some Like It Hot—that includes Audrey's abusive dentist-biker boyfriend, Orin Scrivello. A veteran of six Broadway shows, including Groundhog Day and the short-lived Glory Days, Call will begin his engagement on August 30. Both Blanchard and Borle have been with the production since 2019, when they opened it opposite Jonathan Groff as the show's morally weak-willed hero, Seymour, who unwittingly cultivates a man-eating plant (which he names, yes, Audrey II). Numerous actors have worn Seymour's glasses since then; the role is currently played by Rob McClure, fresh from his Tony-nominated turn in Broadway's who's-your-nanny musical Mrs. Doubtfire.
Directed by Michael Mayer, Little Shop remains one of the best musicals in town, and is ideally sized for its Off Broadway production. As we wrote in our review: "Arguably the best musical ever adapted from a movie, Little Shop does for B flicks what Sweeney Todd does for Grand Guignol. Librettist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken—who, between this show and their Disney animated films, did more than anyone to return musical theater from its mass-culture exile in the late 20th century—brilliantly wrap a sordid tale of capitalist temptation and moral decay in layers of sweetness, humor, wit and camp."
Little Shop of Horrors is playing at the Westside Theatre. You can buy tickets here.
