Little Shop of Horrors [2003 Original Cast]

• Artist: Original Cast
• Rating:
• Release Date: October 21, 2003
• Total Time: 78:13
• Type: Cast (Broadway, television or movie)
• Genre: Soundtrack

Review

The original cast recording of the 2003 revival of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's campy classic musical Little Shop of Horrors is the most lavish package yet of the show's funny, scary, and sweet songs. Collecting all 22 songs that appear in the musical as well as five demos of songs that didn't make it into the show or the 1986 film, the album is equally worthwhile for fans of the entire Little Shop of Horrors phenomenon as well as fans of this particular cast. As Seymour, Hunter Foster's voice is nebbishy but surprisingly powerful, especially on "Grow for Me," "The Meek Shall Inherit," and "Now (It's Just the Gas)," a duet with Douglas Sills' sadistic dentist, Orin. Sills' Orin -- and, for that matter, Kerry Butler's Audrey and Michael-Leon Wooley's Audrey II -- are good, but their performances seem indebted to Steve Martin, Ellen Greene, and Levi Stubbs' characterizations in the film. Nevertheless, "Dentist!," "Somewhere That's Green," and "Feed Me" sound great. The less show-stopping songs like "Da-Doo," "The Meek Shall Inherit," and "Prologue/Little Shop of Horrors" work well too, and show off DeQuina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey, and Carla J. Hargrove as Chiffon, Crystal, and Ronnette, the musical's cross hybrid of a girl group and a Greek chorus. The demos at the end of the album are also worthwhile, expanding on character development and plot twists while underlining what a potent team Ashman and Menken were. Of particular interest are the two Orin-oriented tracks: "A Little Dental Music" is a clever homage to the Muzak played in dentists' offices and the pain that those songs try to mask, while "I Found a Hobby" plays a little bit like a prequel to "Dentist!," and was probably removed for that reason -- but it's so funny in its depiction of young Orin as a budding sadist that it's a shame that Ashman and Menken couldn't fit it into the show. "The Worse He Treats Me," meanwhile, delves deeper into Audrey and Orin's dysfunctional relationship, recalling the Crystals' "He Hit Me (It Felt Like Kiss)." "We'll Have Tomorrow," a hopeful duet between Audrey and Seymour, may be the best of the demos. A poignant love song with an aching melody, it may have been too serious to fit with the rest of the musical's dark humor and innocent romance. On the other hand, "Bad," which was written for the film of Little Shop of Horrors, doesn't live up to its title, but it does sound like a rough draft of "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space," which did appear in the film and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. This album is a lovingly crafted homage to Little Shop of Horrors' staying power; like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it's a classic because it's still outrageously good fun. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Prologue / Little Shop of Horror	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(3:22)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Skid Row (Downtown)	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken		(4:05)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Da-Doo	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Hunter Foster, Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(1:25)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Grow for Me	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Hunter Foster	(2:59)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. WSKID	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken		(:59)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Ya Never Know	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Rob Bartlett, Hunter Foster, Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(3:10)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Somewhere That's Green	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Kerry Butler	(4:10)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Closed for Renovation	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Rob Bartlett, Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler	(1:41)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Dentist!	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Douglas Sills, Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(2:31)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Mushnik & Son	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Rob Bartlett, Hunter Foster	(3:47)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Feed Me (Git It)	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Hunter Foster, Michael-Leon Wooley, Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(6:38)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Now (It's Just the Gas)	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Hunter Foster, Douglas Sills	(3:39)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 1. Act 1 Finale	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(1:08)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. Entr'acte	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken		(1:06)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. Call Back in the Morning	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler	(2:04)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. Suddenly Seymour	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler, Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(3:37)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. Suppertime	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Michael-Leon Wooley, Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(2:29)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. The Meek Shall Inherit	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Hunter Foster, Douglas Sills, Carla J. Hargrove, Dequina Moore, Trisha Jeffrey	(6:46)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. Sominex / Suppertime II	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Michael-Leon Wooley, Kerry Butler	(2:03)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. Somewhere That's Green (Reprise)	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Kerry Butler	(3:13)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. Bigger Than Hula-hoops	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Hunter Foster, Douglas Sills	(1:29)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Act 2. Finale Ultima (Don't Feed the Pl	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken		(3:30)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Bonus Track: A Little Dental Music [*][	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Alan Menken	(1:45)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Bonus Track: The Worse He Treats Me [*]	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Alan Menken	(2:29)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Bonus Track: We'll Have Tomorrow [*][De	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	(3:27)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Bonus Track: I Found a Hobby [*][Demo V	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Howard Ashman	(2:07)
Little Shop of Horrors, musical~Bonus Track: Bad (written for the film	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken	Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, Ron Taylor	(2:34)

Credits

John Samorian (Keyboards), John Miller (Music Contractor), Rob Bartlett (Cast), Mark Fredricksburg (Cover Illustration), Steve Gelfand (Bass), Alan Silverman (Mastering), Domonic Sack (Sound Design), John Benthal (Guitar), Howard Ashman (Book), Henry Aronson (Conductor), Trisha Jeffrey (Cast), Carla J. Hargrove (Cast), Keith Shortreed (Digital Editing), Michael Kosarin (Arranger), Tony Kadleck (Trumpet), Joe Passaro (Percussion), Georgia Stitt (Assistant), Henry Aronson (Keyboards), T. Richard Fitzgerald (Sound Design), Danny Troob (Associate Producer), Cynthia Daniels (Mixing), Jack Viertel (Liner Notes), Anthony Asbury (Cast), Cynthia Daniels (Engineer), Kerry Butler (Cast), Arnold Mischkulnig (Assistant Engineer), Matt Hong (Woodwind), Rich Mercurio (Drums), Douglas Sills (Cast), Dave Spier (Trumpet), Hugh Fordin (Producer), Wallace Flores (Engineer), Alan Menken (Executive Producer), Don Morrow (Cast), Michael Kosarin (Associate Producer), Paul Kolnik (Photography), Dan O'Leary (Product Manager), David Yee (Percussion), Danny Troob (Orchestration), Dequina Moore (Cast), Tom Murray (Woodwind), Michael-Leon Wooley (Cast), Matt Vogel (Cast), Eleven07 (Art Direction), Michael Kosarin (Music Supervisor), Bill Remington (Cast), Hunter Foster (Cast), Martin P. Robinson (Cast), Carlos Casella (Sound Design), John Benthal (Mandolin), Bryan Smith (Assistant Engineer)