Beginning Oct. 27, Players by the Sea in Jacksonville Beach will present “Little Shop of Horrors,” a horror-comedy musical by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman.
Based on the low-budget 1960 film “The Little Shop of Horrors,” the stage musical is about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. The music, composed by Menken in the style of early 1960s rock and roll, doo-wop and early Motown, includes several well-known tunes, including the title song, "Skid Row (Downtown)," "Somewhere That's Green" and "Suddenly, Seymour."
Directed by Jocelyn Geronimo, the show’s cast features James Webb III as Seymour; Jen Mercer as Audrey 1; Matt Barnes as Mr. Mushnik; Assata Davis, Brandon Hines, Shannon Johnson and Felicia Ewing as the Urchins; Jazz Zamor as the voice of Audrey 2 and Rodney Holmes as Odin.
“It’s going to be a great show, and everyone should definitely come and see it,” Holmes said. “We have a lot of new things in this show that a lot of people don’t do normally. We have an African-American man playing Seymour, we have a female playing the plant (Audrey 2), one of our chorus members is played by a man dressed as a woman… It’s a new spin on a classic, and that’s what I think is really exciting about this piece.”
Players by the Sea is located at 106 North Sixth St. in Jacksonville Beach. The opening performance of "Little Shop of Horrors" will begin at 8 p.m. on Oct. 27, and the show will run through Nov. 18. General admission tickets are $28 and senior, student and military tickets are $25. For tickets and further information, call (904) 249-0289 or visit www.playersbythesea.org.
