Ethan Slater and Betsy Wolfe take over Skid Row in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

Ethan Slater and Betsy Wolfe have officially moved into Mushnik’s flower shop, with new production photographs offering the first look at the pair leading the hit Off-Broadway revival of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.

The Tony Award nominees began performances as Seymour Krelborn and Audrey at New York’s Westside Theatre on 21 July, becoming the latest celebrated pairing to inhabit the musical’s lovably dysfunctional corner of Skid Row. They succeeded Jordan Fisher and Tony Award winner Nikki M. James, who completed their engagements on 19 July.

Photographed by Emilio Madrid, the new images capture Slater’s nervous, bespectacled Seymour alongside Wolfe’s glamorous but vulnerable Audrey. The photographs also feature the pair with the production’s bloodthirsty plant, eccentric dentist and streetwise trio of narrators.

Slater and Wolfe lead a company that includes Claybourne Elder as sadistic dentist Dr Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., Reg Rogers as flower shop owner Mr Mushnik and Christian McQueen as the voice of Audrey II. Christine Wanda, Savannah Lee Birdsong and Morgan Ashley Bryant appear as Ronnette, Crystal and Chiffon respectively.

The wider company features Teddy Yudain, Weston Chandler Long, Mecca Hicks, Jeff Sears, Aveena Sawyer, Christopher Swan, Alloria Frayser, Chani Maisonet, Johnny Newcomb, Jon Hoche, Jonothon Lyons and Noel MacNeal.

Featuring music by Alan Menken and a book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS follows Seymour, a timid flower shop employee whose discovery of a mysterious plant appears to offer an escape from poverty and a chance to win Audrey’s affection.

The opportunity comes with a deadly condition. Audrey II feeds on human blood, forcing Seymour into an increasingly dangerous arrangement as the plant grows larger, more demanding and far more ambitious.

The musical’s score includes Suddenly Seymour, Somewhere That’s Green, Dentist!, Feed Me and Skid Row. Its combination of science fiction, horror, comedy, romance and 1960s-inspired pop has helped the show remain a musical theatre favourite for more than four decades.

The current production, directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer, opened at the Westside Theatre in 2019. It has since developed a reputation for regularly introducing prominent performers into the roles of Seymour, Audrey and Orin while retaining the intimacy of its Off-Broadway setting.

Previous stars have included Jonathan Groff, Tammy Blanchard, Jeremy Jordan, Matt Doyle, Lena Hall, Darren Criss, Evan Rachel Wood, Corbin Bleu, Constance Wu, Jinkx Monsoon, Sarah Hyland and Andrew Barth Feldman. The revival received honours for Outstanding Musical Revival from the Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards and Drama League Awards.

For Slater, Seymour marks his return to a stage musical following his appearance in the 2023 Broadway revival of SPAMALOT. He received a Tony Award nomination for his Broadway debut as the title character in SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL and later reached a wider international audience as Boq in the screen adaptations of WICKED and WICKED: FOR GOOD. Earlier in 2026, he appeared Off-Broadway in MARCEL ON THE TRAIN, which he co-wrote with Marshall Pailet.

Slater has described discovering a new appreciation for the construction, humour and emotional depth of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS while preparing to play Seymour. Rehearsing Suddenly Seymour with Wolfe proved particularly affecting, with the familiar duet taking on greater emotional force once he began performing it from inside the character’s story.

Wolfe arrives at the Westside Theatre after completing her Broadway engagement in DEATH BECOMES HER. Her extensive stage credits include WAITRESS, FALSETTOS, THE LAST FIVE YEARS, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY and & JULIET, with her performance as Anne Hathaway in the latter earning her a Tony Award nomination.

The combination of Wolfe’s vocal power and comic instincts with Slater’s physical performance style gives the revival another distinctive Seymour and Audrey partnership. Their casting continues a central feature of the production’s long-running success, allowing new performers to reinterpret the roles without losing the intimacy and theatrical inventiveness that have defined the Westside staging.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is currently playing at the Westside Theatre Upstairs, 407 West 43rd Street, New York, with a running time of approximately two hours including interval.

Photo Credit: DepositPhotos.com