Theater News

Jake Gyllenhaal and Taran Killam to Join Ellen Greene in Little Shop of Horrors

A matinee performance has been added to the classic musical at New York City Center.

Jake Gyllenhaal will star as Seymour in the New York City Center Encores! Off-Center production of Little Shop of Horrors.
Jake Gyllenhaal will star as Seymour in the New York City Center Encores! Off-Center production of Little Shop of Horrors.
(© David Gordon)

Jake Gyllenhaal, last seen onstage earlier this year in Constellations, will make his musical debut this summer as Seymour in the upcoming Encores! Off-Center production of Little Shop of Horrors, July 1-2, at New York City Center. Directed by Dick Scanlan, Gyllenhaal will star opposite original Little Shop cast member Ellen Greene, who reprises her storied performance as Audrey.

Joining Gyllenhaal and Greene in the company will be Tony winner Chuck Cooper as the plant Audrey II and Saturday Night Live player Taran Killam as psychotic dentist Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. Tracy Nicole Chapman, Marva Hicks, and Ramona Keller — best known for their performances as the Radio in the musical Caroline, or Change — play the Urchins. Additional casting will be announced in the coming months.

Also announced today, a matinee performance on July 2 has been added.

Written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the show premiered off-off-Broadway in 1982 before moving off-Broadway to the Orpheum Theatre, where it played 2,209 performances. A film, featuring Greene and Rick Moranis, was released in 1986, and the musical premiered on Broadway in 2003, where it starred Hunter Foster and Kerry Butler.

As previously announced, the 2015 Encores! Off-Center season also includes William Finn and James Lapine's A New Brain, starring Jonathan Groff (June 24-27), and Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, which stars Sutton Foster and Joshua Henry (July 15-18). Lapine directs A New Brain, and Leigh Silverman helms The Wild Party.

The 2015 Encores! Off-Center season will feature sets by Donyale Werle, costumes by Clint Ramos, lighting by Mark Barton, and sound design by Leon Rothenberg.

For tickets to Little Shop of Horrors, click here.

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