Director's Notes
Let us now discuss cool things. Like this page of Howard’s notes dated 4/21. That would be April 21, 1982, a few days before Little Shop of Horrors opened.
When I look at this, I picture Howard taking a long drag on his Marlboro Light, wadding up a piece of yellow-lined paper and popping it into his mouth as if it was a chaw of tobacco, then taking a deep breath and fumbling with a pack of Mylanta tabs.
Finally, I see him stifling a belch and getting back to his notes.
I’m sure you’ll catch it yourself, but I really love the little sketch of Audrey II in the margin. When Howard wasn’t eating paper, he was doodling on paper. His old address books are full of geometrics and cartooned people in profile. Even this early on, Audrey II had taken her rightful place in Howard’s doodles.
I know a lot of the people reading this are in theater – some as amateurs and some as pros – and I don’t have to tell any of you how much work is involved in getting a show on its feet. Witness the 10 PM call on Thursday to stage
Git It
.
Witness also the fact that Howard was director/book writer/lyricist of the show. In note number 2 – “
Me – cuts in Git It
,” Howard (the director) was essentially giving a note to Howard (the writer). No doubt they were both worried about the sanity of Howard (the lyricist)