Little Shop of Horrors

Gallery Players are opening their 78th season with Little Shop of Horrors, running through October at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Columbus. It's a staging of the off-Broadway favorite, directed by Alan Tyson, with music by Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman.

If you're not familiar with the story, it follows Seymour Krelborn, a timid florist's clerk on Skid Row who discovers a carnivorous plant he names Audrey II. As it grows, the plant brings him fame and the love of his co-worker Audrey, but it demands human flesh and blood to survive. The score draws on doo-wop, early Motown and early '60s rock'n'roll, and the whole thing is rooted in the 1960 comedy-horror film The Little Shop of Horrors, which was later adapted into a 1986 musical film starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia and Steve Martin.

It's a long run, so you've got plenty of dates to choose from. There are evening shows at 7 PM on October 10, 15, 17, 22 and 24, and matinees at 2 PM on October 11, 18 and 25. Tickets are $35, and everything plays at the Roth/Resler Theater inside the JCC at 1125 College Ave.