I was lucky enough to work with Howard Ashman and Alan Menken in 1982 on the original production of Little Shop at the WPA Theatre and then the Orpheum. It was delightful to work on a show that started as a simple showcase production and experience life imitating art when the plant and the show actually did take over the world.

The original set of plants was very simple and entirely operated by one person.   The 2003 Broadway production took a four-man crew. Although the concept was similar, the execution was vastly more complicated with plant rising to the top of the proscenium and extending over the fifth row of the audience.