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[title]This winter in NYC is not for the faint of heart. The snow comes down sideways, and the sidewalks are a not-so-fun version of Slip ’N Slide. But there’s one place in the city where it’s always hot: the club.
We report on the best clubs in cities around the world all the time, but this time the guest list is stacked with puppets, blood and some very stylish theater kids. When we asked members of the Little Shop of Horrors cast to show us their favorite “winter club,” they didn’t point us to some velvet‑roped spot downtown, but provided us with a personal BTS visit to the Westside Theatre, the most exclusive little party in Hell’s Kitchen. Maybe even the whole city.
Think of this as your BTS peek inside the coolest “club” in NYC and a very persuasive argument that the best way to survive winter is to spend a night feeding the plant.
The Bouncers
Bouncers can absolutely be bought, and Johnny Newcomb (Vacation Cover) and Aveena Sawyer (Ensemble/Dance Captain) are here as cheerful proof. Grinning like they’ve just cracked the club’s most important code, the pair flash a little cash and a lot of charm, suggesting that backstage rules are more… flexible than advertised. In this club, loyalty is currency, and everyone’s smiling like they just got away with something.
Paparazzi
Even the most secret backstage club can’t dodge the paparazzi, especially when they’re already inside the building. Christine Wanda (Ronnette) lounges like a tabloid fantasy, camera in hand, flipping the script on who’s watching whom. It’s giving Skid Row glamour with a mischievous edge, the kind that feels one flash away from turning feral. In true Little Shop of Horrors fashion, the surveillance is playful, a little creepy and fully embraced. Smile. Someone’s always watching.
Camera in hand, Christian McQueen, the unmistakable voice of Audrey II, is caught mid-paparazzo act. It’s the perfect backstage twist: the monster’s voice behind the lens, busted in the backstage club. It’s equally comic and creepy, exactly the kind of moment this club exists for.
Coat check
The coat check feels less like a convenience and more like a mild threat, thanks to Teddy Yudain (Derelict/Audrey II Manipulation). Standing guard beneath a rack of dangling jackets, Yudain gives the kind of look that suggests something here is off. Maybe it’s a forgotten gym sock. Maybe it’s leftovers from Audrey II’s last meal. This coat check is the kind of place where you hang up your coat and briefly wonder if you’ll ever see it again.
Another stop at coat check, another expression that says Joshua Bassett (Seymour) just heard something he definitely wasn’t supposed to hear. Having made the move from television to the NYC theater scene, he looks like the jackets are whispering secrets, or Audrey II has opinions about outerwear, something just a “little” different from his successful run on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
The Bar
In the club’s unofficial bar, Christopher Swan (Mushnik), Johnny Newcomb and Aveena Sawyer prove that backstage refreshment is all about timing, not proof. This is a bar where Dry January is a lifestyle and the vibes stay high even when the show veers into full-blown botanical terror. Between sips, side-eyes and quiet laughs, the trio holds court in a space that feels equal parts speakeasy and survival bunker. Consider it a Little Shop happy hour with just enough menace minus the hangover.
Posted up at the bar, Aveena Sawyer and Joshua Bassett look like they’ve found the rarest thing in Little Shop of Horrors: a quiet moment that isn’t about to spiral into disaster. Sawyer’s grin and Bassett’s ease suggest a shared understanding that backstage joy is its own kind of survival skill. Feed the cast friendship, water it with downtime, and it grows strong.
Savannah Lee Birdsong (Crystal) looks delightfully unhinged in the way only Little Shop of Horrors truly allows, eyes wide and energy dialed all the way up. Nearby, Johnny Newcomb keeps things grounded, scrolling calmly like this is all perfectly normal behavior. Together, it’s a snapshot that feels equal parts musical comedy and creature feature, proof that even at the bar, the line between performer and performance stays deliciously thin.
The Relaxation Room
Savannah Lee Birdsong has claimed the knitting nook in the club’s relaxation room, where the pace slows and the needles click. Between shows, she knits with the kind of focus that feels both soothing and slightly suspicious, very Little Shop if Audrey II ever took up fiber arts. The relaxation room offers a bit of self-care with a side of musical horror, proof that even in a carnivorous world, sometimes winter survival can look like making something warm by hand.
Here’s Weston Chandler Long (Audrey II Manipulation) and Joshua Bassett in the club’s relaxation room, which hums with low-key tension and cozy calm, a perfect Little Shop paradox where doom is always overhead but the vibes stay wonderfully gentle. Surrounded by string lights, snacks and the quiet aftermath of rehearsal, the two look deep in thought, as if weighing ambition, morality and whether feeding the plant is ever really optional.
Morgan Ashley Bryant (Chiffon) is back in the relaxation room, perched comfortably and either deep into group-chat or researching how to survive another night with a man-eating plant. The vibe is low-stakes, high-recharge, a quiet counterpoint to the show’s harmonies and horror-comedy spectacle.
Even though he’s wrapped up and ready to take on the relaxation room, Christian McQueen looks like he’s just heard a very familiar, very hungry thought echo back at him. This moment feels less like relaxation and more like a sudden psychic connection with the show’s most demanding resident plant. In this backstage club, rest comes with the constant awareness that something, somewhere, is always ready to sing. It’s part horror, part comedy, all Little Shop.
The Restaurant
Every exclusive club needs a restaurant, and this one lurks deep in the back like a carnivorous secret. Here, Morgan Ashley Bryant, Teddy Yudain and Christian McQueen gather for the finest dining in NYC. It’s supper club meets Skid Row, where bites are shared, laughs are loud and you half expect Audrey II to demand a tasting menu. Entry strictly limited to those who know where the door is.
Another round from the back-of-house dining room, where Weston Chandler Long and Christine Wanda (Ronnette) spill the tea about a certain carnivorous plant, basically because she’s not in earshot. Or is she……?
The after-hours feast continues, with Christine Wanda, Weston Chandler Long and Johnny Newcomb digging in with the plastic forks, takeout containers and zero pretense that set the scene. The dining room is communal and features dinner served family style, if your family sang doo-wop and battled an evil plant.
The Dance Floor
Welcome to the dance floor, where the club’s dress code is joy and the only rule is move like no carnivorous plant is watching. With string lights glowing and cameras capturing the moment, Morgan Ashley Bryant and Christine Wanda are turning up the dance floor energy, smiles wide and vibes sky-high. It’s less “after-hours chill” and more “Little Shop rave,” and honestly, we’d RSVP yes every time.
Every exclusive club needs a headliner, and this one just happens to be carnivorous. On the dance floor, Audrey II takes center stage while David Colston Corris (Vacation Cover) gives the diva her moment, arms wrapped around Broadway’s most demanding plant. It’s affectionate and mildly alarming, which feels exactly right for Little Shop. The vibe says dance floor slow jam, and when the star of the show is literally larger than life, you don’t dance around her, you dance with her.
The dance floor turns into a full-on chorus line with Andrew Durand (Dr. Orin Scrivello D.D.S. and others), Joshua Bassett, Weston Chandler Long, Teddy Yudain and Johnny Newcomb packed in shoulder to shoulder. This is backstage bonding at its most joyful and just slightly unhinged, so it’s very on brand.
If this secret club has a VIP selfie moment, this is it. On the dance floor, Joy Woods, Teddy Yudain, Christine Wanda and Morgan Ashley Bryant stack in close, grinning like they’ve just nailed the final number and dodged being eaten alive. It’s pure Skid Row joy with a glossy, after-hours glow: big smiles, bigger energy and the kind of camaraderie that earned, not staged. Horror musical or not, this is what surviving winter backstage really looks like.
The night ends where it should: glowing and smiling. On the dance floor, Christina Wanda and Morgan Ashley Bryant lean into the vibe. This is sisterhood with jazz hands, horror-musical edition, all joy and zero doom. If this backstage club had a closing number, this would be it: loud, loving and proof that surviving Skid Row together is the real happily ever after.
If you’re looking for a way to survive winter that doesn’t involve arguing with your radiator, here’s the move: get tickets to the funniest—and hungriest—musical in town. Little Shop of Horrors is now in its seventh succulent year at the Westside Theatre, currently starring Tony Award-nominee Joy Woods, Emmy Award-winner Joshua Bassett and Tony Award-nominee Andrew Durand. This classic, with its infectious ’50s‑inspired doo‑wop score by EGOT winner and Disney darling Alan Menken and the late, great Howard Ashman, is one of the best offerings in New York City this winter. With just 270 seats, the Westside Theatre is unbelievably intimate, and there is, quite literally, not a bad seat in the house.