Sills' agent confirmed to Playbill On-Line that the actor-singer is now in negotiations to star as the sadistic dentist in the Broadway debut of the famed Alan Menken-Howard Ashman musical. Sills was previously committed to the forthcoming Arena Stage production of Ken Ludwig's Shakespeare in Hollywood, which will star Side Show Tony nominee Alice Ripley. Ripley played Audrey in the pre-Broadway developmental engagement of Little Shop of Horrors in Coral Gables, Florida.

Little Shop of Horrors is scheduled to begin previews at the Virginia Theatre Aug. 29 with an official opening set for Oct. 2. As of press time, there has been no official casting announcement for the eagerly awaited musical, although Kerry Butler, Rob Bartlett and Michael Leon-Wooley have been offered the roles of, respectively, Audrey, Mr. Mushnik and Audrey II.

Douglas Sills made his Broadway debut as Percy in Frank Wildhorn's The Scarlet Pimpernel, earning Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations as well as a Theatre World Award for his performance. He starred in the Kennedy Center's mounting of A Little Night Music, the first national tours of The Secret Garden and Into the Woods and the Los Angeles premiere of Chess.