FILIPINA actress Sue Ramirez will soon step foot on the theater stage as one of the lead stars of the upcoming horror-comedy musical “Little Shop of Horrors: A Bloodthirsty Musical Comedy,” Manila-based theater company The Sandbox Collective announced.
Known for her lead roles in several films like “Ang Babaeng Allergic sa WiFi” and “Dead Kids,” the 27-year-old actress is set to play the role of Audrey, a co-worker and the love interest of a shy florist named Seymour.
“Little Shop of Horrors: A Bloodthirsty Musical Comedy” follows the story of Seymour who takes care of a peculiar plant, which he named Audrey II, that feeds on human blood and flesh.
“When meek florist Seymour falls for his co-worker Audrey, love becomes a lot more gruesome than one would have expected,’ the theater company’s post read.
The Sandbox Collective first announced that it will stage “Little Shop of Horrors: A Bloodthirsty Musical Comedy” on March 22, following the musical comedy “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” It is the second production of the theater company this year.
Ramirez’ participation in the horror-comedy musical was not a surprise to some theater fans who correctly guessed the hints that the theater company dropped about the cast members.
It shared audio clips of the cast and one post apparently referred to Ramirez, describing her as a “fresh meat” in the theater scene and “does love herself some cuddle weather.” Several netizens believed that it was Ramirez as the actress had a movie called “Cuddle Weather” in 2019.
The Philippine production of “Little Shop of Horrors” will be directed by The Sandbox Collective’s managing artistic director Toff de Venecia, with musical direction by pianist and musical director Ejay Yatco.
Curtains are set to roll up for “Little Shop of Horrors: A Bloodthirsty Musical Comedy” on July 6 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Ticket details for the show are yet to be announced.
Other cast members
Ramirez will be working with veteran theater actors for the horror-comedy musical. She will alternate with “It’s Showtime” host Karylle for the role of Audrey, while acoustic pop singer-songwriter Nyoy Volante and actor-singer Reb Atadero will alternate for the character of Seymour.
Karylle made her return to the theater world portraying Julie Jordan in Repertory Philippines’ production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Carousel” in 2022. She starred opposite Gian Magdangal, who portrayed the role of Billy Bigelow. After this, Karylle reprised her role as Sita in the hit Filipino rock opera ballet “Rama, Hari.”
Volante was part of the recently concluded “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” where he gave life to the character of Mitch Mahoney. He was joined by young talents in the theater scene and Kapamilya stars AC Bonifacio, Krystal Brimmer, Shanaia Gomez, Angela Ken, and Jordan Andrews in the musical.
Meanwhile, Atadero currently stars in 9Works Theatrical’s production of Jonathan Larson’s rock musical “Rent.” He alternates with Ian Pangilinan for the role of narrator Mark Cohen. “Rent” will run until June 1 at the RCBC Theater Plaza.
Atadero also starred in other musicals like “Lungs,” “Tick, Tick… Boom,” “Breakups & Breakdowns,” and “Ang Huling El Bimbo (AHEB).”
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Atadero expressed his excitement working with the three other lead stars in “Little Shop of Horrors: A Bloodthirsty Musical Comedy.”
“It looks so awesome, and look who’s in the cast. You have Nyoy, you have Karylle, and you have Sue. It’s gonna be really exciting. It’s gonna be really fun, plus the other cast members who haven’t been announced yet,” he said.
Theater fans were also stoked for the Manila production of “Little Shop of Horrors” and expressed their support for local theater actors.
“Skylar Astin [on] Broadway as Seymour.. looking forward to [seeing] this! I believe in our local talents. Feed me Seymour.. feed me!!” a netizen commented.
“Finally the first Filipino production for ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’” another netizen said.
About ‘Little Shop of Horrors’
The horror-comedy musical will feature the songs of Alan Menken, who is known for his music in “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Aladdin.”
It premiered in May 1982 at the Workshop of the Players’ Art Theater, before it had an off-Broadway production at the Orpheum Theater in New York City in July of the same year. It was also adapted into a movie of the same name in 1986, which was helmed by Frank Oz.
The musical then had numerous productions across the United States and eventually became worldwide success. In 2023, “Little Shop of Horrors” had an Off-Broadway revival in New York City, with “Euphoria” star Maude Apatow joining the cast as Audrey.
