Pictured above: Jonathan Groff as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors.

Little Shop of Horrors has had many lives since it started out as a 1960 Roger Corman cult classic about an unsophisticated floral shop worker, her nerdy love interest, and a man-eating plant. It really flowered in its musical-theater adaptation—with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Phil Spector-flavored music by Alan Menken, and the extraordinary Ellen Greene as Audrey—which was an infectious hit in 1982.

Then came the fairly solid 1986 musical movie, which starred Greene and Rick Moranis, and then a faithful Broadway revival in 2003, with Kerry Butler and Hunter Foster, not to mention the 2015 stripped-down version for Encores! Off-Center summer series, with Jake Gyllenhaal as the nebbishy Seymour, though he had to play second fiddle to Greene’s return as Audrey; I’m pretty sure the audience is still applauding her entrance.

Currently, there’s a Pasadena production with trans actor and Pose star Mj Rodriguez as Audrey. Plus another movie version is being prepared, this time possibly with Lady Gaga as Audrey (She was in the fifth Star Is Born, so why not?) and Billy Porter as the voice of the plant, Audrey II. Just like Audrey II, this is the little show that keeps growing and astounding.

And now, we have an Off-Broadway revival, directed by Michael Mayer, and it’s a delight. The puppetry—designed by Nicholas Mahon—is well done as the stellar plant grows from a sort of cute little poison ivy birthed in a solar eclipse to a ferocious, bloodthirsty alien invader bellowing “Feed me!” And the humans are fine, too. Jonathan Groff is such a good actor, he almost convinced me that he’s a nerd. He brings levels to Seymour, who was saved as a tyke by the store owner, Mr. Mushnik, though it was only to be brought into a dead-end life that Seymour longs to escape.

Groff brings real poignancy to the frustration of “Skid Row (Downtown),” not to mention his affection for coworker Audrey, who sports a black eye from her manic boyfriend, but seems ever hopeful. As Audrey, Tammy Blanchard is less Barbie Doll than hard-boiled film noir star, mixed with a Billie Dawn combo of sunniness and darkness, plus a hint of her blithe sexpot Hedy La Rue in the 2011 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She eschews a few of the laughs in favor of a more personal take, and convinces with a heartfelt “Somewhere That’s Green.” (Her demise scene isn’t directed to be the killer it could be, though.)

Jonathan Groff (L) as Seymour and Tammy Blanchard (R) as Audrey.

Tom Alan Robbins is the gleefully exploitive Mr. Mushnik, and Ari Groover, Salome Smith, and Joy Woods are tireless as the urchins named after girl groups (Ronnette, Crystal, and Chiffon), who regularly pop up off the stoop to narrate with harmonizing and commentary. And Christian Borle is a scene-stealing genius as Audrey’s motorcycle jacket-wearing beau, a particularly sadistic dentist who gets his comeuppance, gigglingly suffocating while wearing a nitrous oxide mask. Borle milks every possible laugh out of the part, as well as a succession of other small roles, and you miss his demented dentist in Act Two (though he was surely lost to a higher cause).

As Audrey II’s lust for blood makes Seymour famous, he finds himself doing some outrageous things to keep the plant (well voiced by Kingsley Leggs) alive, until realizing he has to save the world, not his press clippings.

Jonathan Groff as Seymour.

The show betrays its Off-Broadway origins in that, other than the urchins, there’s no ensemble and there are no big group dance numbers. If this show had been written for Broadway, there no doubt would have been a lavish number where the customers danced with excitement as they filed into Mushnik’s shop to gawk at Audrey II (and Audrey I).

But now that the musical is back Off-Broadway, the intimacy level makes sense again. This production manages to find the heart (and other body parts) in the comic book proceedings.