Tough Guys (and Dolls)

The cast and crew (and man-eating plant)

of that first off-off-Broadway production of

Little Shop of Horrors,

which I was lucky enough to see at the Orpheum Theatre.

It was a trip!

Lee Wilkof (I believe) seated at far left,

Ron Taylor in the Feed Me t-shirt,

Ellen Greene next to Audrey II,

and composer/lyricist team of 

Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, down front.

Franc Luz and Lee

mid Dentist!?

Franc, who is in his 70s now,

also starred in When Harry Met Sally and...

 Star Trek: The Next Generation...

as Odan in the episode "The Host."

Fighting Danny Sewell (above), 

enjoying his first career as a professional heavyweight boxer!

His second career proved as "smashing":

acting in Brit films and tv shows,

and in Oliver! as Bill Sikes (below),

performing in both the UK and Broadway productions.

Other Broadway roles included parts in

The Homecoming, Equus, and The Elephant Man.

The Wild West: Prime territory for villains, right?

Nick Wyman played the dastardly governor in

Desperate Measures,

an off-Broadway jaunt from 2017/18...

above, with Lauren Molina, who played Bela,

and below, with Emma Degerstedt and Peter Saide.

Hopefully I pronounce this bad guy's last name correctly on Sunday

(it has about 17 syllables).

Harriet Harris played Mrs. Meers in the 2002 production

of Thoroughly Modern Millie.

She looks harmless enough, 

but "They Don't Know" she's the mastermind

of a slavery ring!

That's Harriet below,

sans kimono and chopsticks. 

(Sorry, that's not very PC, but neither are her cohorts in the show.)

Michael Rupert who got to be the sharky lawyer,

Professor Callahan,

in Legally Blonde

and sing "Blood In The Water".

That's him below, in a face off with 

Laura Bell Bundy as Elle.

Music and lyrics for this show were by

Nell Benjamin and Laurence O'Keefe

(and yes, they met while studying at Harvard!).

Carol Channing did her one woman revue,

Showgirl, in 1961, 

post-Gentlemen Prefer, and pre-Dolly Levy.

Lots of great character songs 

brought to us by Charles Gaynor

gave Carol a chance to play an array of roles,

including "Switchblade Bess"

which we'll sample on Sunday!