Revamped LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Halted Due to Rights Issues

Audrey II might not be heading back to the stage as soon as expected.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ellen Greene, who played Audrey in the original off Broadway production and subsequent film, revealed that a reworked version will not have a future because of a rights issue.

After reprising the role alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2015 Encores Off-Center production, Greene saw new possibilities in the material. "Jake l and I found so many new layers in the humor and the silliness," she told EW. "[After that], I got this idea that, well, maybe I could do this onstage again... I kept thinking about the play. The plant talks about world conquest, and nobody even thought for a moment [that Donald Trump] would win the election [at the time], and it's the plant is kind of like Trump."

Greene then reunited with Frank Oz to combine elements from both the stage musical and film and create a revamped version of the show. The concept is DOA however, as the duo was unable to secure rights from the late Howard Ashman's estate.

Greene explained: "The powers that be denied [us]. There's only so far you can push a painting back in your closet. I said to Frank: 'If we do this we, have to do this now.' We were prepared, and when we were denied the rights, it broke my heart because I really wanted [the fans] to know that I really fought for trying to bring it to them."

The horror comedy rock musical LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, tells the story of a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors. The music, composed by Menken in the style of early 1960s rock and roll, doo-wop and early Motown, includes several well-known tunes, including the title song, "Skid Row (Downtown)", "Somewhere That's Green", and "Suddenly, Seymour".

The musical premiered Off-Off-Broadway in 1982 before moving to the Orpheum Theatre Off-Broadway, where it had a five-year run. It later received numerous productions in the U.S. and abroad, and a subsequent Broadway production. The musical was also made into a 1986 film of the same name, directed by Frank Oz.