Chris Evans reveals that he actually performed a song for his audition for the remake of Little Shop of Horrors. The story of the musical is long and winding. The original 1960 cult film about a nebbish young man named Seymour encountering a man-eating plant was directed by Roger Corman over the course of one week. The Little Shop of Horrors was then adapted into a 1982 Off-Broadway musical by future The Little Mermaid duo of lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken. That stage show was mounted as a theatrical film by The Muppet Show alum Frank Oz in 1986, starring Rick Moranis as Seymour, Ellen Greene as his crush Audrey, The Four Tops' Levi Stubbs as the plant Audrey II, and Steve Martin as Audrey's dentist boyfriend Orin Scrivello.
Back in January 2020, it was announced that Warner Bros. would be mounting a film remake of the musical, directed by Arrowverse guiding light Greg Berlanti and produced by Berlanti alongside Marc Platt and David Geffen. Initially, the cast was announced with Rocketman and Kingsman: The Secret Service star Taron Egerton as Seymour, Black Widow's Scarlett Johansson as Audrey, and Pose standout Billy Porter as Audrey II. Johansson's MCU co-star Evans, who had already exited the Marvel franchise after Avengers: Endgame, was then tapped to play the sadistic dentist. Although it looked to be moving forward, in May of last year, the Little Shop of Horrors remake was shelved indefinitely.
During an interview about his new Pixar film Lightyear with MTV News, Evans talked a bit about his disappointment that the Little Shop of Horrors remake didn't come to be. Pandemic and budget considerations shut down the project, but the actor reveals that he has considered poking Warner Bros. by sharing his audition tape for the musical on social media. He reveals that "I sang the Dentist song for my audition," and that Little Shop is his "favorite musical." Read his full quote below:
That’s my favorite musical. I even thought about posting my audition. Just to stir the pot…
I sang the Dentist song for my audition. I’ve got it on my phone and I always think, is it crazy to post this?
The Dentist's song in Little Shop of Horrors would certainly be a departure for Evans after playing a noble hero onscreen in the Captain America films for so long. The song is a satirical celebration of a sociopathic, violent man finding his calling torturing patients as a dental professional. Steve Martin proved that it doesn't take a seasoned villainous actor to play the role, but it would still come as something of a shock to people only familiar with him through his MCU roles.
While fans were divided on whether or not a remake of Little Shop of Horrors was a good idea, it would certainly be worth Evans finally posting the audition video that he has been holding onto. The actor hasn't had onscreen experience singing, so it would be an interesting glimpse into whether or not he was right for the role in the first place. And considering Evans cites it as his favorite musical, it'd be fun to see what he would have brought to the project.
Source: MTV News
Chris Evans reveals his disappointment that the Little Shop remake isn't moving forward, sharing that he sang the Dentist song in his audition.Brennan Klein