Rapp, best known for his Broadway work in Rent and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, portrays down-on-his-luck plant-shop worker Seymour opposite the Audrey of Tari Kelly. Kelly was recently in the ensemble of The Boy From Oz.
The tour will play the Music Hall through Aug. 22 with a company that also includes Lenny Wolpe as Mushnik, James Moye as Orin, Michael James Leslie as the voice of Audrey II, Amina Robinson as Crystal, Yasmeen Sulieman as Chiffon and LaTonya Holmes as Ronnette. Audrey II is puppeteered by Paul McGuiness and Michael Latini.
Actress Tari Kelly recently told PBOL, "I'm very excited to play this wonderful part in such a superb production. It's really a dream come true, and I'm looking forward to the whole experience."
Tour stops through the end of the year include the following cities:
Aug. 24-Oct. 17 at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 19-Oct. 24 at the Civic Auditorium in Portland, OR
Oct. 26-Oct. 31 at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City, UT
Nov. 2-Nov. 4 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA
Nov. 10-Dec. 5 at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, CA
Dec. 6-Dec. 12 at the Civic Theatre in San Diego, CA
Anthony Rapp created the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway and London productions of Rent. His other theatrical credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Precious Sons; Six Degrees of Separation; Bright Lights, Big City; Raised in Captivity; Trafficking in Broken Hearts; Youth Is Wasted; Sophistry; and The Destiny of Me. Rapp's film credits feature roles in "A Beautiful Mind," "Adventures in Babysitting," "School Ties," "Dazed and Confused" and "Six Degrees of Separation." Tari Kelly, who was recently part of the ensemble of The Boy From Oz, also understudied the role of Liza. She was also seen on Broadway in Show Boat and Off-Broadway in Streakin' Her tour and regional credits include Show Boat, Beauty and the Beast, Triumph of Love, Man of La Mancha, Chicago, Everything's Ducky and Once Upon a Mattress.
The current Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors plays the Virginia Theatre and features direction by Jerry Zaks and choreography by Kathleen Marshall. The creative team for the musical also includes William Ivey Long (costume designer), Scott Pask (set designer), Donald Holder (lighting designer) and T. Richard Fitzgerald (sound designer). Little Shop boasts a score by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman and a book by Ashman. The Broadway production will end its run Aug. 22.
The original production of Little Shop opened at the old WPA Theatre in Chelsea and then transferred to the Orpheum Theatre in 1982, where it stayed for 2,209 performances. Ashman, who died on March 14, 1991, directed the piece. Edie Cowan was choreographer. The musical, which boasts such tunes as "Suddenly Seymour," "Downtown" and "Somewhere That's Green," was made into a 1986 film starring Ellen Greene as Audrey, Rick Moranis as Seymour, Vincent Gardenia as Mushnik and Steve Martin as Orin, the dentist.
