The Steves are joined by their dear friend, Sherry McCamley, to discuss the 1986 cult-classic Little Shop of Horrors.
What's Making Us Happy?
Six: The Musical- Soundtrack on Spotify, coming to Broadway soon!
Love Island Season 3 (US) - CBS / Paramount +
Little Shop of Horrors conversation includes:
Also, check out Sherry's most recent passion project, "She's Crazy: Mental Health and Other Myths" here: http://www.shescrazymusical.com/
She's Crazy: Mental Health & Other Myths is musical theater edutainment that educates, uplifts, and inspires audiences to reduce and work through the stigma surrounding mental illness and addiction. The three performers in She's Crazy take a unique approach to this very relevant and timely topic. Through humor, personal stories, and songs, She's Crazy has brought healing and hope to audiences since 2015.
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
The Steves are joined by their dear friend, Sherry McCamley, to discuss the 1986 cult-classic Little Shop of Horrors.
What's Making Us Happy?
Six: The Musical- Soundtrack on Spotify, coming to Broadway soon!
Love Island Season 3 (US) - CBS / Paramount +
Little Shop of Horrors conversation includes:
Also, check out Sherry's most recent passion project, "She's Crazy: Mental Health and Other Myths" here: http://www.shescrazymusical.com/
She's Crazy: Mental Health & Other Myths is musical theater edutainment that educates, uplifts, and inspires audiences to reduce and work through the stigma surrounding mental illness and addiction. The three performers in She's Crazy take a unique approach to this very relevant and timely topic. Through humor, personal stories, and songs, She's Crazy has brought healing and hope to audiences since 2015.
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
Hello, returning happies and new listeners. This is Steve Bennet-Martin, and this is
Stephen:Stephen Martin-Bennet. And welcome to a lifetime
Steve:happiness. The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, TV shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way.
Stephen:And with today's episode, we'll be going to the shop.
Steve:sounds good bay, but maybe we need some backup. Oh, Sherry,
Stephen:Sherry. No, my dear. I figure, you know, the only other person I know in the world that would possibly love musicals like this, as much as me would have to be my dearest friend, Sherry McCammon. Welcome to this. Oh,
Sherry:thanks so much for having me. I feel honored. Oh,
Stephen:well, trust us. We're the ones that are honored.
Sherry:Well, thank you so much. And yes, I do love little shop of horrors.
Steve:Very true. Excellent. Little bit before we get into the movie how do you and Steven know each other?
Sherry:Well, we met, oh my gosh. I don't know how long ago, actually, in a bar in Cincinnati where I was singing and Steve was one of the audience members who ended up singing with me at various times. And yeah. And then the rest is history. We actually ended up doing a show together. Big gay Cincinnati wedding. And that was, that was, you know, the seal on our friendship.
Stephen:Yeah. It was one of the best summers of my life. Oh
Sherry:yeah. We had a great summer. We hung out at the pool and had very lots of late night conversations, you know, saving the world, that kind of thing.
Stephen:Oh. And like, so it was at below zero, which you've been to and people know that's one of my favorite places in the world. And Sherry was doing a cabaret and you know, they were singing songs and they did big butter Jesus that I've played for you, which is just an amazing song. And and I talked to Sherry after one of the shows and I was like, you know, maybe you could do let me entertain you. And she did that. And then I remember I introduced her to Connie and Carla. Oh yeah. And you know, as she said, the rest was history and we just bombed it and she's just delightful and wonderful. And she makes the world a better place. Well, I've
Steve:gotten to see that firsthand since meeting her through our relationship. So I'm very glad to have you here to Sherry. Oh,
Sherry:thanks guys. You make the old broad field. So good.
Stephen:Oh, speaking of that, I was also in one of Sherry's music videos. Oh
Sherry:yes. Oh my gosh. Yes. Ballot of the flat-chested woman, Steve was one of my featured dancers.
Stephen:It was it was so good. And I still go back and watch that video. That was the song is fantastic. And we will have to put that in the show notes so that people can click over to it to you too. That was great. Oh
Sherry:yeah, definitely have people watch it. We had a ball filming it and we did it at below zero in downtown Cincinnati and yeah, it was so much fun.
Stephen:Now, darling, what's been making you happy this week. Well, ironically, it's a
Steve:little bit of theater. As much as this episode, little shop of horrors is going to be all about that show. We've fallen in love with another show that's off-Broadway
Stephen:currently. Well, yes. And it will be coming on to Broadway. When Broadway starts back this fall, it is six, the musical. And what is that about? So everybody knows all about, you know what? I bet you, there's a better way for us to hear about it. Let's go to that.
Six Clip:find out how we got has its thorns here. I'm live in console.
Stephen:Okay. So as it said, you know, everybody always hears about Henry the eighth and what he did, and his wives are more of the punchline or the after story. And so I love about six is it takes their side of things, blends it with like a spice girls concert. And it is really witty. And I have to say that the, one of his wives that I now feel really sorry for is Catherine Howard. Yes. Poor girl was just used and abused her entire life. And sex was the only thing she was ever taught. She was good. Oh, Sherry, have you listened to six yet?
Sherry:I have heard, I haven't listened to the entire soundtrack, but I've heard some of the cuts off at, and I, I echo your sentiments about that poor woman or young woman. Yeah. And it, it just sort of makes me think of the patriarchy that still exists
Stephen:today. 100%. And I will, for anybody out there that has listened to six, maybe briefly or one or two. I will fully admit I was not sold my first time through. And I was like, eh, and then there was something about it that made me keep coming back. And I know you were the same way. Well, yeah, cause we would play
Steve:it in the back room while we were Lego wing. And so the first time I heard, I was like, oh no, it's like another like Hamilton thing about history and blah history. But then it got catchy. Cause it's like if history was the spice girls. Yeah. And I liked the spice girls. They were my first season were
Stephen:they? They were and not a shock to anybody, but mine was Paula Abdul. I
Steve:believe that as
Stephen:well, Sherry, what was the first record you bought with your own money?
Sherry:Oh, my God, you're going back and you're going to date me horribly. But the first album that I ever bought was, well, I actually bought two because I had gotten an advance on my allowance. I bought Herman's hermits and the monkeys last train to Clarksville.
Stephen:Oh, that is such a classic song too. Oh
Sherry:yeah. Those are my first records that I actually bought with my own money. And it was in, I think, fifth grade or something
Stephen:like that. That's fantastic. I was in fourth grade and we were at this store and it was called far more. So it was kind of like a knock-off Walmart. That was more like a pharmacy with. So is halfway in between the size of like a Walgreens and a Walmart. And, but they had a whole music section and I was looking at music and I was like, oh, I'm either going to get new kids on the block or Whitesnake. Cause they're, so I love their songs once bitten, twice shy, Barry hated both of them. And he's like, why don't you look over here? Hey, there's that Paula Abdul that you liked the song straight up. I was like, oh yeah. And then the rest they say is history. No.
Sherry:And you've
Stephen:flipped her ever since. Have, has there been anything that you have been watching or bingeing on TV?
Sherry:Well, mostly escapist kind of stuff. Although I have watched a lot of the musicals that have been filmed, like oh, you know, the, the whole Lin, Manuel you know, he's got so many of them out there. I did watch Hamilton. You know, in the Heights and we've watched a lot of things have been filmed on PBS, but the other thing that I watch a lot of British murder mysteries, I'm kind of, I'm kind of addicted to Brit box and we've been watching all the well we've watched all of the Midsomer murders and inspector Linley and all of the Agatha Christie you know, miss Marple and all those And the thing I love about. Yes. And this might sound a little silly, but they're, they're so predictable. I mean every little teeny English village, they're gorgeous. Okay. The scenery is beautiful. I love looking at the scenery and the cars, especially when they're the old fashioned cars in the thirties and forties and fifties. And but they're always, you know, these tiny little villages where everybody's unhappy and somebody getting murdered every week, the marriages are all unhappy. Everybody's, you know, having an affair with somebody else.
Stephen:I've heard such good things about the murders. And like, I that's like on my list of things because I love British things.
Steve:Yes. I know you do. And what else have you been loving on TV or movies
Stephen:that we've watched. I don't know, like there's been so much that has been enjoyable recently, but I would say in terms of like mindless entertainment, it's been love island.
Steve:Yes. Love island is definitely something that we've been bingeing. Cause it's the, just the most trashy young people trying to find love on an island. It's a little predictable with the name, but it's, it's just, it's one of those shows that on CBS and paramount plus it's on like every single night. And so it's the perfect summer thing when not much else is on TV and you can just watch it and watch these people be just train wrecks with one another. And
Stephen:Sherry, like, usually I don't go in for the bachelor or anything like that. And what sold us on love island is that there is this sassy, gay narrator, and he's constantly. Well, you can find them making fun of the contestants. Like they don't hear it because it's all done in post-production, but like you're watching and they're taking all this so seriously. And he's like, oh, look, they're about to have a fight again. Yeah. And it's, and it's like the the narrator is saying all the things that we're thinking that we're thinking at home. So it's, it turned what could have been just garbage into. Just
Steve:like it's breaking the third wall almost, and it knows how ridiculous it is. And we love ourselves a little bit at camp and the narrator is can't be at the, at its best. And he's also filled with dad puns with all the people's names. It's just, so-so, well-written like, we all almost kind of hope. He's just like ad-libbing and going by the seat of his pants, although I'm sure there's a team of writers behind him, but yeah, definitely the narrators who makes love island for us. Yep.
Sherry:I have not watched that, but I might have to watch it now after you're a descriptive, it sounds like Graham Norton is like narrating them.
Stephen:That's exactly what it's kind of like humor in where everybody is the butt of his joke and. Including himself at times. Yes. Because he's like, he will make fun of himself for being sad and pathetic. And all he can do is sit here and watch these people. Yes. But let's get on to the topic at hand, which is little shop before is tell us a little bit about the show background, darling. Well,
Steve:it is a 1986 American horror black comedy musical. That's a whole lot of genres and wine directed by Frank Oz who is best known for his Muppet work, including the dark crystal and Muppets take Manhattan. And for those star wars nerds, you might also recognize him because he's the voice of you.
Stephen:Like Frank Frank OSS is fantastic.
Steve:Yes. And you love how this movie is a little bit of a
Stephen:inception, isn't it? It is. So this movie is based off the 1982. off-Broadway musical of the same name by composer, Alan Menken, who we will talk about shortly and writer Howard Ashman. But this is also based off the 1960 film of the same name, directed by B whore, Maven Richard corpsman. So it's a movie based off a plate based off a movie. Yes,
Steve:certainly is. But I'm glad that that had that middle stop as the play, because that's where they got the music by Alan Mankin, who is of Disney fame,
Stephen:like anybody who has seen Disney's most famous and beloved musicals from the eighties, little or not little shop of horrors, little mermaid, beauty, and the beast. And. The musicals of that nature, Alan Menken is the one we have to thank for all of those. Yes. We would not have poor, unfortunate souls if it weren't for Alan Menken. And that
Steve:enough is enough to thank him for you.
Stephen:100%. Yes. And this
Steve:film stars, the Rick Maraniss as Seymour. I know him from honey. I shrunk the
Stephen:kids and Ghostbusters one and two. Yes.
Steve:Alan
Stephen:Green is Audrey. Oh. And so Ellen green is magical and I love her. I also loved in the two thousands whenever she was playing one of the cookie ants on one of my favorite shows of all time, pushing Daisy.
Sherry:Yeah. Pushing daisies. Oh my gosh. Underrated.
Stephen:If it weren't for the writer's strike around 2006, I think we would still actually have pushing daisies, but because of the writer's strike and. Having to fill things and moving around by the time TV came back, it didn't have an audience. It's just one of those shows that was witty and perfect. And it gave Kristen Chenowith chances to shine on TV and Suzy Kurtz with an eyepatch. I mean, it's, it was really good. Ellen green had done the off-Broadway musical playing Audrey as well. Well, yes. So
Steve:she was the only one to reprise her role from the musical. It also had Vincent Gardenia as much Nick, the angry shop owner.
Stephen:Yep. Yep. Steve Martin, not to be confused with me as Dr. DDS.
Steve:Yes. And Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey too. And
Stephen:Levi Stubbs is one of the singers from the four tops. Like his voice it's we've seen stage productions of this and I will now unfortunately, always judge Audrey twos by Levi Stubbs. Oh yeah.
Sherry:I don't blame you there. Yeah, that was great. That was a really good part of the
Stephen:movie.
Steve:Yes. And the movie for such a classic nowadays, I guess it would be called classic considering that it was released to December 19th, 1986 with a budget of$25 million. And its box office was only 39 million. And as much as I would love a$14 million in my bank account for a movie, that's not that great
Stephen:as it, babe. It is not. It unfortunately was very niche at the time. And also movie musicals have. Move their way out of popularity. And that point in the eighties, that was the era of caddy shack and things like that. So people's viewing habits had changed greatly. And it's, this is one of those that until you get somebody to watch it, just telling them about it, they may look at you like, Hmm. I don't think so. Yes.
Steve:But for those of you who are not familiar with the topic of the movie, I am DB summarizes it as a nerdy, florist finds a chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed. I would say a plus IMD B. You
Stephen:did good this time. Yeah. Sherry. We have issues with IMDV from time to time with their descriptions, descriptions and summaries of movie sometimes. I don't think we watched the same movie. Yes. I agree. I agree.
Steve:Now, as you watch the movie and we'll get into the plot points you know, overall in general, but the ending is going to be very different for someone who's watched the Broadway play or has you know,
Stephen:I mean, or even the 1950s or 1960 version of the movie, because at the end of this spoiler alert, Our two heroes live.
Steve:Yes. But meanwhile, don't feed the plants. A was the original 23 minute finale based on the musicals ending. And when they they shot it and they gave it to a test audience and they didn't react positively to it, neither would
Stephen:Lama. I would not, because I remember when I was first watching it and the whole thing with Audrey too, and Audrey right at the end, I was like, no, I love like, even as a child, I loved me a Broadway diva in the show. And I didn't even realize it that I didn't, she was the one I didn't want to die, but in the movie or in the Broadway show, everyone dies.
Steve:Yeah. She dies. Then Seymour dies and then the plants take over the world. And so there is a, it was actually a fully restored in 2012 by Warner home video. So it does exist out there. If you wanted to watch the original 23
Stephen:minute ending. Yeah. There's this song at the end and they do it for the stage show where everybody comes. And warns the audience don't feed the plants. Yes. And do you know, I was thinking about this and I think that, you know, would, they they've changed it. And you know, now it's kind of a movie about people down on their luck that whenever you have somebody believing in you that you can achieve greatness. I think the original one might've been an anti vegan movie. Oh no. Don't tell John that the whole don't feed the plants. I think the whole thing was warning people about veganism.
Steve:I I'd have to take that and run with it.
Sherry:I'm not sure I agree with that, but whatever floats
Stephen:your boat. No, I was watching it last night and I was like, there's a joke in here somewhere.
Steve:Meanwhile another song from it, this was original to the movie mean green mother from outer space is the first Oscar nominated song to contain profanity in it, which I feel is fucking awesome.
Stephen:That's not the word they included though. What is it? They included the word shit,
Steve:shit, whatever shit, fucking kick ass. We're earning our explicit rating, writing this episode,
Stephen:but that, and I love that. That was Oscar nominated. Yes. Like that makes me smile and. That's one of my dad's favorite songs from the musical.
Steve:Yes. Now, in addition to the musical and this movie and the original movie, it also does have multiple stage versions. You have experienced with one don't. You.
Sherry:I have experience with actually a few of them. My connection to little shop goes away back because I had actually in 1982, I was making my New York cabaret, debut, believe it or not. And I had a friend of mine and myself. We had a cabaret act and our agent at the time got us tickets to see little shop of horrors. And I said, that sounds terrible. That sounds, he goes, trust me. You'll. So we got to see the original cast with Ellen green. And Lee will cuff off-Broadway the WPA theater. We got to see the original of little shop. And at the very end, when they do that, don't feed the plants. They from the ceiling, they release these long vines and they land on the audience. It's scares the crap out of you. And I loved
Stephen:it. That's fantastic. That
Sherry:is awesome. Yeah. And of course I had to copy that when I direct, I directed the show at Milford high school, a Cincinnati area. High school. And at the end, I said, we got to have the plants falling, falling on the audience. The only way we could do it was to get out in the catwalk. And so I had kids up on the catwalk at the end of the show, they just dropped. So all these, and it was, it was very fun. I mean, the audience reacted just like we did, but yeah, I, I directed it in God. When was that? 2012. Yeah, 2012 at Milford. But before that I was in it. I actually was in a production of it. Oh God. In the late nineties. And I played crystal one of the doo-wop girls, or as I called it, I was the oldest living to up girl. And I saying, the alarm goes off
Stephen:at seven and you
Sherry:start up that whole thing. And it was so much fun. We had a blast doing that show and that's one of the reasons then I directed it at Milford and a funny story about me directing it at callbacks. And the, this was the first show I had directed at Milford. I was there. I ended up being there for six years, teaching acting and musical theater and stuff. And I loved the kids there, but this was the first show I'd done. So I didn't know the kids, I was just going on, you know, their audition. So it callbacks, I was seriously considering my Seymour and my Audrey. And at the end of callbacks, after everybody gone, these two kids come up to me, my who ended up being my Seymour and my Audrey. And they were all like real sheepish and they're going, oh, We don't want to assume anything. But we just want to let you know if you're thinking of us or Seymour and OD re we're cousins
Stephen:so kissing would not be the best. Yeah. Yeah.
Sherry:So they were like, Ooh, cause they, but they didn't have the same last name. So how would I know that, you know, and I just said, oh, don't worry about it. We'll just have you hug, you can hug a cousin. Right. And he went, oh yeah, that's funny. There was no kissing between seamer and I did, they did hug, which was fine. And they actually did a really good job. They were, they were great in the show. We had a blast doing it. Yeah. That was fun.
Stephen:We saw a stage version down here at the west coast, black theater troupe, which is such an amazing theater and it's entirely. Black actors, cast and crew which is really good. And our Audrey was fantastic. The only negative, and I even hate to say this is that the Seymour blew out his voice in a previous performance. So he wasn't able to hit, like he could the lower stuff. He was fine, but like suddenly Seymour it, he couldn't do it. I went suddenly
Steve:deaf,
Stephen:but yeah, that was sad. The production itself was, it was awesome.
Steve:Yeah. I would definitely go back to that theater to see
Stephen:another show. Oh yeah. So anybody here in Sarasota, if you've never been to the west coast black theater trip, they have a newer, bigger, nicer theater and their productions are amazing since live theater is now a thing. Again, go see stuff before it goes away. Yes. Certainly because there's that chance. That theater will be gone again by Christmas.
Sherry:Well, yeah, the way things are going,
Stephen:but let's go back to happiness. That is just so yes,
Steve:before we get into the characters, I mean, skid row is the very first song and that is a scene that sets up Seymour and Audrey as characters. So if you are interested in hearing it as a refresher here, so. Bro you go downtown,
Stephen:downtown
Steve:yes. You go downtown,
Stephen:stop
Steve:downtown,
Stephen:downtown. I just love that song. And even the way it's all set up. And so, you know, sometimes when they make a movie musical, it loses some of the magic of Broadway and the way they did this, it was very much, still felt like you were saying. A Broadway show. Yes.
Steve:It felt like, I mean, although it was taken place downtown on skid row, it felt like they were all on like one stage going back and forth, like in a good way. I really liked it.
Stephen:And so there was the part at the beginning of that. You said Sherry, that that's how you started the song where the woman's coming down the alley.
Sherry:The very, the very beginning is just the, the urchins. Yes. The urchins were on and, and I started off alarm goes off at seven and you start up, you put in your right out, was for the powers that have always been, Hey, hang a child,
Stephen:chill. Let's fuck
Sherry:him. And then a why no sits up.
Stephen:And you go,
Sherry:yeah, it's just, it's a very fun song. And that's where like the entire ensemble is, you know introduced and everybody has a little part in it. So that's a cool ensemble number.
Stephen:Yes. And that's like the, so the doo-wop girls or the Greek chorus, because they show up all the time to do the narration or to let us know. You know, all the awful things are that are happening. Like it even starts the beginning song before it all starts with the the halal shop and like, they're just warning everyone of the evil that's to come. And I love that aspect that you've got the girls that exist, that Mo much Nick sees and he talks to, but then they also exist as the Greek chorus that no one sees with spangly dresses, and right.
Steve:You were very proud of yourself and writing this outline before you knew that they were officially called the great chorus. Why did you have them marked
Stephen:down? I did. I had that, like through the whole chorus, I had them marked down or through the whole script. I was like, oh, they're the Greek chorus, because that's how I saw them. And so I was last night when we were watching, I said, okay, I need to Google because I'm sure that they have. Our real name. And I looked up and I was like, oh, they actually are called the Greek chorus. I was like, I think I deserve 10 points for Gryffendor for that
Steve:one. And their names are named after that with crystal Rynette and chiffon. Yeah.
Sherry:Well, crystal run-in and chiffon are actually named after girl groups in the
Stephen:sixties. That's what I meant.
Steve:Yes. I don't know. I wasn't around.
Stephen:So whenever I was watching this, I didn't watch it when it first came out. But when I was watching it, I noticed chiffon is played by Tisha Campbell. And I had seen her in this TV movie musical called rags to riches. And it was about the six orphan girls that were Fostered to be adopted by this wealthy man kind of like a take on Annie, but it was set during the sixties. And she was the token black girl of the group, but I like knew from there that she had a heck of a voice. And later I grew up in, saw her on the sitcom Martin. And what I love is that I believe crystal is played by Tasha Arnold who ends up playing Tisha Campbell's best friend on Martin. So like this whole, yeah, I love when the, and I hope that like Tisha Campbell's like, oh, I know the perfect girl for this role. I would love it if that's how it actually happened. So we've got some people that are introduced and given some screen time during the skid row one of them is poor shopkeeper. Seymour who has lived with most Nick from the time he was a little tyke, whenever most Nick saved him from the skid row home for boys and he doesn't have any parents. And he, I hate to use the S word, but he kind of works as a slave denture indentured servitude. That's a better one. For mush, Nick, you know, he gets a room, a crust of bread, a job and he calls him a slob, which he is. Yes. And but the thing about Seymour is he's, he is a genuine quote unquote, good guy. He
Steve:is, but then Audrey to the plant comes around and wants his blood.
Stephen:Yeah. And that's one of those things where, you know, he finds out by accident and what is, what is it that. Discovers pavement. That's given you sunlight. I've given you rain looks like you're not happy. I'll give you a few drops if saddle up now.
Steve:and that works. Yeah, it does work. The plant Audrey too does start to grow. And it becomes a sensation with everyone over the top camps, sensation. So to speak with the guy, I was like, I'll take a hundred dollars cause you can't break the
Stephen:50 well, and so that I think is fantastic. This movie has so many wonderful cameos that the first customer that comes in that was like, what a strange and interesting plant in the window. Yeah. That's Christopher guest from, you know, best in show fame, married to Jamie Lee Curtis. And I like, you know, he wasn't as famous back then is more now, but I, I just love the different cameos that are sprinkled throughout this whole thing. It's like the who's who of great comedy. Yes. And
Steve:meanwhile, Audrey too, is the name of the plant. Tell us a little bit more about its namesake though,
Stephen:so sure. It's based off of Audrey, who also works at the show. Played by Ellen green that we mentioned. She has great feelings of low self-esteem. She is in a a relationship with the semi sadist, Dr. Orange Carvello DDS. And, but she does have feelings of love and respect for Seymour. Neither one acknowledges that the other one could feel things for them,
Steve:but it's obvious to anyone who sees them that they're in love with each other. But because of her low self-esteem and her fear of leaving doctors, Ravello she stays with him. We, they do make light of abusive relationships a little bit in this movie.
Stephen:It's just a little. So
Steve:trigger. If this were to be happening to you in real life don't put up with it like Audrey did.
Stephen:One of my favorite things is she comes in and she's got the black eye and most Jack says, and that's your favorite thing? It is. What do you tell a woman with two black eyes? Nothing.
Steve:I have two orifices.
Stephen:So this is a bad joke. Feel free to edit this out later. So my friend, I had heard this in college. It was, what do you tell a woman with two black eyes? Nothing you already told her twice. Ooh, see, I
Steve:like Ronnie's version better though.
Stephen:Our, my friend, Ronnie thought that the person said, what do you tell a woman with two black guys? And he said, honey, I got two offices. Oh, but that one I liked better. We'll edit all this out, but so she comes in with a black eye and Mushtaq looks at her and he has, you know, I'm starting to think this boy of yours might not be such a nice boy after all. Yeah. Putting it lightly. It's okay. You know, they do make light of it, but it, she feels that she doesn't deserve any more. She doesn't feel that she deserves somebody as nice as Seymour Seymour feels that he's too much of a slob and doesn't deserve someone as nice and classy as Audrey. And then you've got this plant that once blood and we see later how it goes really far. Derling where would you have drawn the line with Audrey too?
Steve:If it was making me famous. Like it wasn't this movie. I would probably go like the Dexter route, like he did with the dentist and draw the line at chopping up people like
Stephen:of files and
Steve:just bad people. Like I, yeah, I think that, I don't know where I w when I wanted to eat me or like, eat someone, I love that's where I would draw the line, but I would feed it bad people. I think.
Stephen:Sherry, what about you?
Sherry:Well, you know, you got to keep in mind that Seymour never actually killed either of those
Stephen:people. You're absolutely right. And I wrote that down to mention that he, he
Sherry:actually doesn't kill the dentist. The dentist kills himself with that gas mask contraption, Seymour just doesn't step in and help
Stephen:him. Yeah. And so that's a question is if you, if you're watching
Steve:someone die and you can stop it and you don't, isn't that a form of like pacifistic murder? Well,
Stephen:I, but also. Maybe you're making the world a better place because of how bad or any is. He is a
Steve:horrible, horrible person. Yes. And so he didn't make very good, good plant
Stephen:food though. Yes. And you were going to talk and Sherry, what about mush, Nick? He just backed up
Steve:into it. Oh, I'm not sure.
Sherry:Well, in the movie, it's a little different than than the stage play in the movie. He's pressuring. He's pressuring Seymour motion, Nick cause pressuring Seymour to help tell him how to take care of the plant and return motion. Nick won't turn Seymour into the police and the stage play. It's just, he sees it and he can't figure out what's going on. And Seymour is a little more culpable in that he says, well, you know, you want to look for just looking at his mouth and get real close. Whereas the movie, they make it less Seymour's fault. And that he's just backing up into the plant
Stephen:so that he can still stay the hero and the good guy, because he didn't actively kill either one of them. Right. And the blackmail with machinic fits in with his character, this character that they've set up through the whole movie, because obviously he's taken advantage of Seymour to work the shop and things. And then when the plant comes along, I doubt that Seymour until moose, Nick has gone, is sharing in the profits. Yes, exactly.
Steve:Right. And with that, you know, it's definitely, it's just a matter of, even with a scene where like being the one, making all the money, he still is talking down to him like. You know, worthless in a slob and a mess. Even when he, like, you know, he didn't even bother to try and like pretend now that he has his golden goose to try and take care of it.
Stephen:So, one other line between mush, Nick and Audrey where Audrey was coming to listen to Seymour's radio interview, where he was going to be talking to another cameo by John candy, where he was playing wink Wilkinsons we're third world. And she shows up right at the end, was
Steve:that when he says what'd you do get tied up.
Stephen:No, just handcuffed a little
Sherry:God.
Steve:And connotations are not funny. The joke is very well timed and funny.
Sherry:Yeah. And another thing I w you know, I keep in mind with a movie like this, a play like this is it's total over the top camp, and it's sad tire. Exactly. I mean, if anybody takes this stuff seriously, they are in need of big time therapy
Stephen:and they're missing out on the fun of it all, because like, you know, she's singing about her arms in a cast and it's actually just in black lace around her neck. But that does take us to this next song called somewhere that's green.
Steve:That's true luxury.
Stephen:So somewhere that's green is it actually has a lot more responsibility as a song that people may not realize. So Alan Menken wrote the song and this was what is now known as an, I want song. It is the song where. A character puts all of their hopes and dreams for the future into one song. And if it weren't for him creating somewhere that's green, we would not actually have like part of your world of your world from the little mermaid. And as we talked about in our little mermaid episode Disney originally wanted to cut part of your world because they're like kids, aren't going to listen to it. And Megan's like, trust me on that. You're you're gonna want to keep this song. He's like,
Steve:I'm Alan Menken, dammit. Listen to me.
Stephen:And so I love that, that this song is responsible for all the way up to let it go. Like we would not have let it go if it weren't for somewhere that's green. Yeah.
Steve:Richard will take, thank you somewhere that
Stephen:screen. And I mean, Ellen green is magical and perfect. And I love like you get to see in the song and other songs that she has strong belting pipes, like she has such talent, but she's also able to sing it in this nasally mousy voice where it still sounds good. I mean, that's talent right there.
Sherry:Oh yeah. She really lets it go though on you know, suddenly Seymour that's when you really hear
Stephen:about
Steve:yeah, like right here,
Stephen:I love that song too. I mean, so I don't, I don't dislike any song in the show. This is one of those that I will listen to again and again, and again, like even when I'm doing housework, I'll start singing some fun now. Oh boy. And having some fun now, which is the song the Greek chorus does whenever seems. Bleeding himself dry for the plant. Yes.
Steve:Now he and Audrey would not wind up together if he didn't, as we mentioned earlier, get rid of the abusive dentist via the what was it? The laughing gas
Stephen:overdose, which in the musical has a song, I believe it's called it's just the gas. Yes. Is that
Sherry:right? Yeah. Yeah. He thinks, yeah, orange things just to guess. And at the end he takes his last gasp so to speak. But they cut that from the movie and that some fun now is not in the that's not in the stage
Stephen:play. That definitely seems along the same lines as big green mother of something that was flashy or, and added for the movie to help with a musical montage to show time passes.
Steve:Yes right now with this Dr. Orrin Chavela, D D S also brought a lot of pain to Audrey, but it also gave you your karaoke song. Didn't it?
Stephen:See, I, I used to love doing the song at below zero and there's a part in it where he is talking about his mama and he goes, oh mama. And like back whenever I was young enough to do it, because in the show he drops down on to his knees and then hops up and bounces. And whenever my knees were able to do that, when I was 20 something I would drop down onto my knees during the song and then jump back up. I can no longer do that without my knees.
Steve:Probably not so much, but yes, here's the song. You'll be a dentist.
Stephen:his temperaments wrong for the priesthood and teaching would suit him still less. Oh, it's perfect. Steve Martin it's. Elvis meets the marquee decide like it's
Sherry:torture. Perfect. That's the perfect description of him.
Stephen:And he gets off on the pain. He inflicts. Yes. And which brings us to another amazing
Steve:cameo. I was gonna say yes, because every sadist enjoys feeling the pain, but what happens when you have someone who loves the pain, enter
Stephen:bill Murray, the masochist, and he's in there. And so there's the scene where Bill's waiting and this girl comes out and she has this metal contraption over her mouth and like the actress or curling her lips around her TC, you can't see that she has any, and she's just making it. And he's like, oh yeah, they have to do that. When they remove the. I swear to goodness as an eight year old, I thought that that was actually something a dentist could do terrified me to
Steve:no end. I can imagine, but yes, right from him in the seat, like S like standing on the seat, but then squatted down, like you could see, like, he was like a little kid at a candy store, like so excited to go in.
Stephen:Well, that's when he talks about too, that, you know, I'll go to the dentist and you get a candy bar, candy bar, candy bar.
Steve:Yes. But funny thing is like, some of his funniest lines are in that chair as he's being operated on. And those were all ad-libbed in the script for the movie. It just had scream audibly. And so all of his little comments and crap cracks and quips were all just him being off.
Stephen:And I love the whole thing of, you know I heard about you from the dentist. I see on Wednesday, who is a brother of the guy I see on Sundays and just that he goes to the dentist every day. For pain and he starts whenever screw Velo starts bringing out all these things that dentists don't actually use that. He's just, you can see he's getting aroused and very excited and scrub fellow at first is, you know, excited to use all these things until he's doing it. And bill Murray is getting off, getting off on it. And that you would think that a sadist and a masochist in this would work well together, except that Scaravella his problem is he likes to cause the pain. He doesn't want anyone to feel good about it. He gets off more on the fear. And so bill Murray's ruining the fantasy for him and he just tells him, get out, stick out. Yes. One of the first times that Seymour meet. outside of the shop whenever Oren's there to pick up Audrey and it, it always stuck with me whenever she was talking to him. And it's oh, I know your name. It's Simon. No, it seems so. Was somebody talking to you, Sally? Sorry, what? Sorry that the doctor and then Burt just sticks with me and it's the, her voicing and inflection of it and his comedic timing. Like they are really good, good scene partners together. I love Steve Martin and Ellen green. And the dynamic that they have, like even later whenever the whole thing thing with like stupid broad fell off the bike and mustered up my hair. And it's the, the cast here is just so good. And we're all the luckier for it. Yeah. Whenever the plant gets so large, though, that's when we found out that it needs more than just the blood that Seymour can provide. So he
Steve:serenades him with this
Stephen:the all night that's right. Or you can do Cause when you feed him Seymour, he can grow up big and strong and it must be blurred. It must be fresh. And it's one of my favorite villain songs, because not enough musicals give you a good villain song. You know that my favorite Disney song of all time is poor unfortunate souls. And this one is another really good villain song. And it also is one of the tipping points for Seymour as the character. Because you know, the plant says a lot of folks deserve to die and Seymour's like, don't say that, don't say that. And then they see Orrin beat up. Yeah. Audrey Audrey in the window. And that's when they start into lines. Like the guy short, it looks like plant food. To me, the guy short, it looks like plant food to me, you need blood and he's got more than enough. And that's the point where Seymour agrees to go along with this plan. And whenever he shows up at the dentist's office after bill Murray's there, he actually has a gun because in his head he thinks he's going to shoot Oren. Do you think he would've gone through with it?
Steve:I think he might have. What do you think Sherry?
Sherry:I am not sure that he would have the nerve to actually go through it, but I would think it would, the gun would go off accidentally and he'd kill him accidentally.
Stephen:That's how I think it would work. Yeah. If the gun was going to be involved, I think it would have had to have been an accident where Seymour's shaking too much and he drops it and it fires, but I don't think he could have pulled the trigger.
Sherry:Yeah, I don't either.
Stephen:And so most Nick, as we talked about, saw him chop up Orin's dead body. Most Nick blackmail. Bush. Nick became plant food as well. And then the plant shameful people,
Steve:the plan is
Stephen:here. It keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger Seymour and Audrey finally, you know, she, if I sit there like fast, their love and Audrey agrees to go, you'd be seen with me. Sure. I love her shore. It's like, yeah. It's, it's just like Ellen green for me. Is this movie, like, I don't know anybody else I could have seen in this role. It's she just does one of those great jobs. And nowadays I would hope that it would be that her performance, if this was nowadays on Broadway, it would be one of those they're like, yeah, there's nobody else that could play this. She's going to transfer from Broadway to the moon. Instead of, you know, casting, whatever new ingenue they need to put up there to get ticket sales.
Sherry:Well, and the sh the movie wasn't that long after the state, I mean, it was 86 and the, the stage play was 82. I don't know how long it ran, but it wasn't that long. So she, she hadn't aged out of the
Steve:part. It's not like they took her out of retirement for this. Right.
Sherry:And she is perfect. I mean, she's the perfect Audrey. I think though, one of the reasons she had trouble getting cast after that though, is that she was so perfect. Is that I think people thought of her, you know, as just the, the dumb blonde character
Stephen:and maybe, and I'm sure that people kind of like Megan Malali and her voice on Willow. Right. Like Megan, Molly doesn't sound like Karen at
Steve:all. I knew I was so upset when I found that out. I was shocked.
Stephen:One of the visuals that I love so much is during the comma, come on, whenever most next blackmailing him and the Greek chorus is in the shadows or the background. You never really see their faces fully, or you just see their legs and, or, and you see them through the window and stuff. And the artistic direction of that scene really jumped out and spoke to me just with the, there, at the edges of Seymour's consciousness. And at this point they're kind of playing the devil on his shoulder. It felt like with the urging him to come on. And definitely. Yeah. And they were in those gorgeous purple ensembles, which fit with the theme of that song. And there's so many really good choices. That is, this is another one of those movies that is fun and it's campy, but it has so many different layers that are just enjoyable that you go back and you see it again. And again, we get to the point where the pressure of all of this because the meek shall inherit the earth and Seymour is going to be on the cover of life magazine, TV guide, and he's going to have his own gardening show. And the,
Steve:and I love how they say it's going to be the first ever gardening show flash forward to 2021. And it has its own fricking channels. So you would definitely would have started a craze at
Stephen:that point. I'd like to think that, you know, HGTV actually got started because someone saw this movie and they're like, now that's an idea,
Steve:but yes. And the, the plant though is hungry. Audrey too wants more and more, and finally reveals his ultimate plan.
Stephen:Oh. And because Seymour cracks and he proposes to Audrey outside and they sing to each other again, and they're going to run away and they're going to go somewhere where there's no plants, no plants at all. Sima European bizarre. It's just bizarre. And they're gonna try to because the, the one, the last of the cameos is Jim Belushi and he's the one that owns gardening international or plants international, whatever it is, they're going to take clippings and create. Audrey two's for everyone in the world. And like you said, that's when Seymour puts two and two together and realizes that was the plan all along that there's Audrey too.
Sherry:Well, you know, there's, there's one other cameo that I missed when I first watched the movie, but last night I got it. Michael Shannon, who is now been nominated for Oscar for like the shape of water boardwalk. He was the one who says, well, here off feed it. You know, that, that was him. Yeah. I know because I recognize them and I thought, oh, that couldn't be, and then I watched the credits and I was like, oh, that's so cool. This is like Michael Shannon, before he became Michael Shannon, the serious actor, you know,
Stephen:Like, they're going to sneak out. And Audrey too was like, oh, and he's like, fine, but you're just getting stuff from the butcher shop down on the corner. And he goes, you drive a haul Bogen and so Seymour goes off and Audrey two calls up Audrey one and she's like, looks out cause he's singing to her. And she's like, do I know you? Oh, it's Seymour and sh no, honey, it's me. And she says, oh my goodness. And runs across the street. And now it's suppertime and
Steve:she's almost eaten. And originally she was eaten. But in this version, he pops in a scene where it does and pulls her out. And then the, this song happened.
Stephen:I love that song too. And I love the little baby plants as the backing vocals. Yes. That are kind of like his Kips and it's, it works really well with this so that it has their final fight mixed in with a fun song. Cause Seymour's trying to do what he can to destroy the plant. This song's going on. Audrey too is destroying the building all around. Audrey's outside worried about her man, and what's going to happen. The building starts to come down. All this stuff falls on Seymour and you think he's dead. And then at the last moment he reaches his hand out. He has a power cable. He touches the plant and the plant explodes. Yay.
Steve:And they live happily ever after
Stephen:somewhere that's green, except that the camera goes down right at the end. And there's one tiny Audrey too, in their front garden by the fence.
Sherry:I love that part. I love that they at least put that in there at the end, sort of like, like the stage play, you know,
Stephen:it's, it's a great nod to, you know, the whole don't feed the plants. The plants can still win while still giving us the end, their happy ending that the audiences. Sure. How do you feel about, because you've done the stage show, you've seen the state show and you've been in the state show. How do you feel about the change from the don't feed the plants ending to the happier ending?
Sherry:Well, it's interesting. Cause I thought about that a lot. It meant to me, it makes sense for the movie because you're going to please a wider audience, I think, with the happy ending. And like you said, I mean, we're all rooting for Audrey. I mean, we're all rooting for her. And then when at the end, when she in the stage play, when she's eaten by the plant, which by the way, she's happy and Seymour comes in and she goes, I want you to feed me. I want you to be successful. And then he does let her go back in and die and all that. You know, I just have so mixed feelings about it makes sense for the movie, but I'm not sure. I, I'm not sure the stage play would have been quite the same. It, it just as a stage play, especially because it's, it's an homage to the movie, to the B movies and that kind of thing. I, I just think it's a better ending for the stage. Like, because even though they all end up dead, oh, there's that last number? Don't feed the plants, which they come out first. It's real ominous. But at the end, it's almost like a big happy number. And like I said, the vines fall from the ceiling and everybody, you know, is, is scared, but then clapping. And I, I liked the way the stage play ends. But I do also like the movie ending.
Stephen:And I agree completely that I think it works for the stage show as something that is live and you can see, and it works with the story they were trying to tell. And with the movie, even though they're the exact same thing, it almost feels like a whole other beast and they deserve, it feels like they earned their happy ending in the movie.
Sherry:Right. And there's also something else about, I think about seeing live theater, as opposed to a movie that when you're in a live theater, you know, they're not really dead, you know, because they come out for the curtain call, whereas with the movie, for some reason that seems to transport people into another universe where these people are real and what's happening to them as well. A lot more than the stage. You know, we're stage plays do at least that's my feeling on it. I might
Stephen:be no, no, I get that entirely. Like there's I love Stephen King books and things, and there's one of his movies that I love, 99% of the movie. And it's called the mist and the ending of the movie, the mist bothered me so much, like up until the ending, I was like, oh, I would watch this again. And again, and I didn't care like the, what they did with the ending felt so bleak and unnecessary and the movie tanked at the theaters. And I have to think that it is entirely due to the last two minutes of the.
Sherry:Yeah, I agree with you. And it's, it's interesting to me because it seems in the last couple of years, it's become much more acceptable for movies to have those bleak endings. And I'm not sure what, what that says about us society. I mean, especially during the pandemic, you know, all these like very dark gritty. Whenever I see that as a descriptor for a movie, I go, Nope, not gonna do it. I need happy. Give me happy.
Stephen:Stephen. And I used to listen to true crime podcasts or the, like the wrongfully convicted podcasts and during the pandemic, and even the, the couple years leading up to it after 2016 I actually had to stop listening to them because I was like, you know what? I need something a little happier. To I, to listen to like the world is bleak enough. I guess I need my entertainment to be more escapist.
Sherry:I totally agree with you. That's the way I felt the whole last year and a half. I have not finished now. The British murder mysteries. That's a different thing because I don't watch violent gory stuff. I've never liked that. And especially not now. But the British murder mysteries to me are escapist and that, you know, that these tiny little villages aren't having somebody murdered every day, week, you know, and. It's not as dark overall because they always solve it at the end, blah, blah, blah. You know, but these movies that have been coming out that are so bleak and so dark, especially the last year and a half, I just, I can't, I can't watch them. I need something happy and uplifting and musicals do
Steve:it. Oh yeah. Yes, they certainly do. And we have a whole backlog of episodes about happy movies because we do try and use the positivity in all movies that we discuss.
Stephen:And even though like we do cover horror movies, there are fun ones. Yeah. And, and I know you don't like Gordon things, but funny enough, horror movies are a happy place for me because the horror that I like is so unrealistic that it's also escapism for me. Cause it's not bleak in the terms like, because there've been a couple horror movies that Steve and I watched during the pandemic. Yeah, never again. That was not like them when they're
Steve:too close to home, like, what was it, what was the one that we put it on the purge list, but the one with Tiffany Haddish and the other guy that was like a psychological thriller about like the holidays. And it was like, so uncomfortably tension, like the horror was the tension in the
Stephen:house. It was this oh, so bad. I don't even want to look that up again. Yeah. It was she and the guy and they had, they were having Thanksgiving or Christmas with the oath, the oath, they were having Thanksgiving or Christmas with people that were opposite political parties. And there was a nationwide thing where you had to make a public patriotic oath to the country. And so it was dividing the country and the preview made it look like it would be over the top, like comedy with some. Gore and a little bit of political humor. It wasn't that it was all just dark. It was
Steve:don't watch it cherry you'd be.
Sherry:Yeah. I, I will not watch that because it's way too close to what was happening in our country already.
Stephen:Exactly.
Steve:Yes. Now, any final thoughts on little shop of horrors and its placement?
Sherry:Well, I would say that's a little shop. I have fun memories of both the movie and the stage plays because of various experiences with it. I N it's in my top 10, you know, it's definitely in my top 10 and if I had the chance to direct it again, I would
Steve:it's you heard of people she's available for hire
Stephen:and if you do it, I would really enjoy playing orange Carvello DDS.
Sherry:Oh my God. You would be perfect. I would cast you in a heartbeat.
Steve:Yes.
Stephen:And any final thoughts on the movie? In my life? It's just like Sherry said, it holds a special place in my heart. And some of these songs stick with you over the years. I do like sometimes whenever I'm cutting the grass in my head, I'm singing somewhere. That's green, like, as I said, and I will sing the, some fun now while I'm cleaning, because it's a tongue in cheek. Cause he's not really having some fun. Now the music is good. The movie is good. It's not a role that you would usually see. Rick Miranda's in like, cause he can sing. He's not fantastic. He's like, he's known for his singing and, but he's really great in this role. And if I ever met him, like this would be the role that I would be like, I loved you. And I loved you and little shop of horrors. Thank you so much for this. Like, and, but I would rather meet Ellen green and just be like, Sing to me. You're a perfect
Sherry:yes. Yes. Well, we still, we still say some of the lines from the song too. That helps. Thank you, doctor. Thank you
Stephen:doctor. I'm sorry, doctor and I, I forever will. Anytime the word sure. Needs to be said. I'm always going to hear. Sure,
Sherry:sure. It's two syllables. Sure.
Stephen:Sherry. Thanks. Thank you so much for joining us and to all of our listeners out there. Thank you for listening. If you would like to get in touch with us on the socials, you can get in touch with us at happy life pod on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Steve:Yes. That's all. Sorry. Email address, happy life pod@gmail.com and Sherry. Did you, did you have anything you're working on or anything you've worked on recently that you'd like to share with the audience in case they wanted more of.
Sherry:Have more of me. Well, we're still doing our show. She's crazy mental health and other myths.
Steve:Tell us more about it. Cause we saw it and it was awesome. Yes.
Sherry:Oh, good, good. Cause we've been doing virtual shows this whole past year. I wrote it with a friend initially Kathy Springfield and it's a 75 minutes long cabaret style show about mental health issues, which doesn't sound very uplifting, but we use a lot of humor to get people, you know comfortable and, and talking about things that people just don't talk about. Our whole goal with the show is to stop the stigma. And matter of fact, we have a non-profit now called stop the stigma productions.org. And she's crazy is a part of that. We added our, my daughter to the show a couple of years ago, Aaron. So there are three of us in the show. We've done it for colleges, high schools mental health recovery centers you know, conferences all over the place. Our mission is to raise awareness about mental health issues and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues and addiction. We've added a lot about addiction because since the pandemic boy, those numbers have just skyrocketed. So
Steve:yeah,
Sherry:well, we, we are, you know, we all do I mean everybody's affected by it. Everybody knows somebody, or if it's not you, it's somebody in your family or a friend and coworker. So no, we're trying to get the message out there without being preachy and boring. You know, we don't have to stand up there and quote statistics. We have songs, I sing, I wrote six songs and sing them and Aaron wrote two songs and she sings them and we tell stories about our own personal. Experiences with mental health and addiction issues. So,
Steve:and I highly recommend it and I would never use the word boring to describe anything that you're involved in. So definitely I will make sure that the link you mentioned as well as if you, if I I'm sure you'll share it with us so we can add in all those details of how to watch the upcoming virtual shows or find the nonprofit in the show notes. So listeners can find you. Yes.
Stephen:And it is fantastic. We have seen it. It's very good. And like anybody that listens to our show knows we are very vocal and open on the show about our mental health issues and addictions. Yes.
Steve:So if you love us, you'll love her. So, and if you love us, also leave us a review. If you're listening on apple podcasts and follow us wherever you're listening. So you get new episodes every Wednesday.
Stephen:Yes. And until next time everyone stay happy.