Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
Jeremy Jordan is moving from National City to Skid Row!
TheSupergirlstar, 35, will be be returning to his musical theater roots this spring when he’ll step into the lead role of Seymour in the acclaimed Off-Broadway revival of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s landmark musicalLittle Shop of Horrors
His eight-week limited run in the production will begin at New York City’s Westside Theatre on March 17, and conclude on May 10.
“It’s exciting,” Jordan tells PEOPLE. “Seymour is definitely a role that I always loved. I remember seeing the [2003 Broadway production]; it was one of the first showsI ever saw in the city, actually. I had seen the movie, but that’s how I became really familiar with it. From there, I went on to sing some of the songs before too, in concerts. But I never thought I’d have the chance to play it, so it’s especially fun to be jumping in to this.”
“I really couldn’t ask for anything better,” he added.
Glick’s final performance as Seymour will be on Sunday, March 15. The rest of the original cast — including Tammy Blanchard (Audrey) and Christian Borle (Orin Scrivello, D.D.S), Tom Alan Robbins (Mushnik) and Kingsley Leggs (The Voice of Audrey II) — will all remain with the production.
Jeremy Jordan.Emma McIntyre/Getty
The timing couldn’t be more perfect for Jordan, whowelcomed daughter Clara Eloise with wife Ashley Spencera little over nine months ago.
Doing the part will make commuting home to his New Jersey suburban home a breeze, something that’s become a key factor for Jordan when choosing work since becoming a father.
That’s what happened with Jordan andSupergirl.Back in 2018, the actorstepped back as a regular from the hit CW series during its fourth season. He returned this year, in a limited capacity.
“I loved doing the show, loved the cast, but it was just really hard for me to be so far away. My wife and I wanted to start a family,” Jordan says. “So to be able to leave and then come back this season, on my own terms, was really perfect. I’ll return to play anytime they want, if they’ll have me. But probably not full-time again because of my daughter.”
Fatherhood hasn’t just changed the way Jordan thinks about his career; it’s also changed the way he sees theater.
He looks atLittle Shop of Horrorsas a chance for audiences to “escape for a while” and experience the world through the eyes of a child.
“I think it’s important to remember what it’s like to have things be magical and have things be extraordinary,’ Jordan says. “It’s that universal thing of feeling uplifted; of reconnecting with that sense of wonder and that sense of childlike excitement that a lot of us feel disconnected from as they get older.”
“If there’s anything that I’ve sort of learned from being a father, it’s that those sorts of feelings come back really quickly because you see your child going through new things for the first time,” he continues. “Even the most mundane things are exciting and wonderful to them. And theater can do that for adults — especially a show about a murderous plant.”
Jonathan Groff inLittle Shop of Horrors.Emilio Madrid
Gideon Glick inLittle Shop of Horrors.Emilio Madrid
Little Shop of Horrorsfollows Seymour, a down-on-his luck florist who helps turn his boss’ plant shop around when he discovers a rare (and voracious) plant. He names the mysterious greenery after his co-worker Audrey, his longtime crush.
The sci-fi musical first premiered Off-Broadway in 1982, and became a global phenomenon (thanks, in part, to a hit 1986 film adaptation that starred Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, and original cast member Ellen Green). A staple in high schools across the country, the show is known for its catchy score, with songs like “Suddenly Seymour,” “Somewhere That’s Green,” “Skid Row,” and the title track, “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Jordan last treaded the boards on Broadway 2018’sAmerican Son, oppositeKerry Washington(both reprised their roles in a recent Netflix adaptation). Other Broadway credits includeWest Side Story,Rock of Ages,Waitress,andNewsies —which earned him a Tony nomination.
Aside fromSupergirl,Jordan’s also had memorable roles in NBC’sSmash, voiced a part on the Disney Channel’sTangled, and starred alongside Anna Kendrick inThe Last Five Yearsfilm adaptation. He was inJoyful Noise, with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton, too.
Tickets toLittle Shop of Horrorsare now on sale.
source: people.com
