(upbeat music)
- Feed me, Seymour.
It's maybe the best off-Broadway show of all time.
We're talking about Little Shop of Horrors
and right now Tony Award winner Lena Hall is playing
Audrey. Here's Charlie Cooper with more
- Thanks, Tamsen.
Lena Hall has arrived on Skid Row.
I spoke with her here at citizenM Hotel.
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So Lena, thank you for joining us.
- Thank you.
- You're taking on this role of Audrey
in Little Shop of Horrors off-Broadway.
It's a story that everyone is familiar with,
but what was it about Audrey and her role
that kind of spoke to you?
- The show, I've known it since I was a kid.
I watched it, I watched the movie and that was
the only version that I actually knew going into this.
So when Michael Mayer was like, hey would you ever
wanna play Audrey in Little Shop?
And I was like, yeah, based solely on the movie
and the soundtrack that I knew
which was the movie soundtrack.
And so when I came into the show
I had Ellen Greene's version in my head so very strongly and
and then my first day rehearsal, I saw the show that night
for the first time and I thought, oh, okay.
So, there's so many different ways to play this character.
She's really, really layered.
She's not a ditz, she's very much vulnerable and
she's kind of strong from having, you know,
grown up in in Skid Row.
And so, just from that alone it was,
I was really excited but I had already taken the job.
I wanted to come back to the New York stage.
I've been gone for a while and it wasn't something
that was necessarily a choice
it was because I was filming Snowpiercer, this TV show
and it always overlapped during like the high times of
musical theater when the seasons are
but then of course the pandemic and all of that
just kind of disrupted everything.
So, for me, getting back on stage
and then also getting to play this iconic role.
A lot of people were like, oh this is such a different role
for her.
And I was like, I don't know, actually now looking it
on page, knowing the role better, it's in my wheelhouse
cause it's really just a damaged person who has hopes
and dreams and holds on to those even though,
even though they're pretty unattainable.
Bringing in my edginess to it was a lot less important.
So, even singing the score, like, I'll dirty it up
a little bit here and there, but really the songs are so
beautifully written.
What Alan Menken and Howard Ashman wrote are on the page
are so important for the show itself that I had to,
I have to stop myself from wanting to like
you know, do the Lena Hall thing with it or whatever.
If I'm going to do that, it has to be truthful to
the storytelling.
Like the three, the three girls, the urchins, they can go
off more because that's more on brand for them.
But for this character it's a little,
it's much more restrained.
You get the moment to shine, but it's not quite I think
what people might be thinking of like the end
of Hedwig where I was allowed carte blanche to
do whatever I wanted and it became insane at the end.
Like I was holding notes forever and I was
doing these crazy riffs and crazy high notes and whatever
but that was appropriate for that character
at that moment to do for the show.
It worked.
This is so much different, you know?
- Was there anything that you did to prepare to kind of
get back into the groove of being on stage?
- Ah.
(laughing)
Nothing prepares you to get back
into the groove of an eight show week.
My body hurts a lot and when I sleep I have nightmares.
The prep is all in the, is in the character work.
There's quite literally nothing you can do to prepare you
for eight shows a week that's not doing eight shows a week.
So, when you start doing eight shows a week then
you get that stamina back.
My self-esteem is a little low when it comes
to like doing eight shows a week again.
But as it's progressing now I'm becoming like,
oh yeah I got this.
I always say, and don't be afraid to sound like (beep).
Don't be afraid to sound like (beep)
cause you can get over that.
If you're not afraid then it's not gonna ruin the rest
of the song in your head.
You're not gonna go, oh I cracked, oh my God.
And then you get tight if you just, you're like
oh I cracked whatever.
Like I'm just gonna keep saying it doesn't matter.
Like that's what makes something so exciting is to hear
you know, when a, when a singer is like not
perfect then it's so human.
- Right
- And it makes it so good.
Right.
- There's that relatability aspect for sure.
- Yeah, exactly.
And that's, and I love that.
And so when I'm able to kind of do that for myself
and I'm like, I'm not afraid to crack, like it's fine
that's when that power comes in.
You have the power to like really just give it all.
- Was there a specific song?
Was there a specific moment?
Is there a specific moment in the show that just
is the thing for you?
- Is it a spoiler alert?
Well I hope it's not cause when I get eaten
by the plant.
- Yeah.
- It is literally they should sell tickets
to be eaten by the plant because it is so much fun.
It's like a little ride that you go on when you get
eaten by the plant.
(laughing)
Not, I mean I get to die.
I mean this is the first time I've gotten to
do a death scene, which is just so much fun honestly.
It is so much fun to die on stage every night.
Someone grabs your ankles and like pulls you
through the plant and it's like, it's like a ride.
You're like, (screaming).
(laughing)
The thing comes down on you,
honestly gotta sell tickets.
- We're talking a lot about music.
I know you recently dropped an album.
- I did.
- Can you tell us a little bit about that?
- It's called 1001 and it has to do
with Snowpiercer, 1,001 cars long.
And it's basically all the songs I sang on the show
plus a couple that I wish I had sung.
(laughing)
Wanted to do covers of cause I was like,
oh that song is so cool.
And they're very like elevated moments
for my character on the TV show.
♪ Give me a reason to love you ♪
♪ Give me a reason to be here ♪
- It was fun because the songs were picked for me
essentially.
And I liked that because it forced me out of my little box.
And I love it when someone expands my music taste.
Like when I get in an Uber and they're like
do you wanna listen to music?
And I go, why don't you put on your favorite music
because I'm pretty sure I've never heard it
and I love to listen to it.
And nine times outta 10 it'll be something completely
out of what I listen to and I'll, I'll love it.
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