Yamaha Helps Bring "Horrors" to Broadway

BUENA PARK, CA (January 2, 2004) — Suddenly, Seymour is back on the New York stage – along with Audrey, Mr. Mushnik and, of course, Audrey II, the man-eating plant that powers his rise from nebbishy flower-shop clerk to… less nebbishy flower-shop clerk with a girlfriend. Little Shop of Horrors is enjoying a hot revival at Broadway's Virginia Theatre, more than 20 years after its off-Broadway debut.

At the request of composer Alan Menken, a Yamaha MPC3 Grand MIDIPiano is anchoring the show's orchestra. Musical director Henry Aronson plays the instrument during performances, both as a piano and as a MIDI controller for many of the other reed, string and electric piano sounds that give Little Shop its signature period sound.

"The issue was really the piano sound, primarily," Aronson says. "Broadway pits are usually pretty crowded places, and a lot of pits don't use a real piano. But Little Shop is a really piano-centered show. The primary concern was getting a really fine instrument in there, and on top of that, we wanted to have the flexibility to do some MIDI stuff."

Perhaps best known for the 1986 Frank Oz film version starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia and Steve Martin, Little Shop first came to prominence in its 1982 off-Broadway staging. But few recall that it began as a 1960 film that director Roger Corman shot in only two days.

The new production, directed by Jerry Zaks, features Menken's music, book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and puppet design by The Jim Henson Workshop. Hunter Foster (Seymour) and Kerry Butler (Audrey) star in the familiar lead roles, with Rob Bartlett as Mr. Mushnik, Douglas Sills as demented dentist Orin Scrivello and Michael-Leon Wooley as the voice of Audrey II.

"It's a great feeling for me to have a responsive piano there," says Aronson, who uses a Yamaha Clavinova digital piano at home for composition and practice. "There's a fair amount of pounding rock and roll stuff. But there are also some ballads in there. This gives me a lot more responsiveness as a player, and I can get more out of it."

According to David Obele, the show's assistant to the music contractor, the orchestra pit had already been covered with a stage extension by the time Menken brought in the Yamaha MIDIPiano, and technicians actually had to dismantle part of the theater wall to get it in place. But, he notes, it was worth it.

"I think this instrument in particular allows us a lot of control to create the sound that has become attached to Little Shop of Horrors," Obele says. "It's a rock score, it's not a typical theatre score. People know what it sounds like through the movie, and now that we've got it live, it allows us to recreate that with minimum headaches."

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.