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"Mindhunter" Star Jonathan Groff Opening Up a "Little Shop of Horrors" Off Broadway This Fall

With Netflix's Mindhunter set to premiere its second season on August 16, series star Jonathan Groff (Hamilton, Spring Awakening) is heading back to the stage this fall for an Off-Broadway run in a revival of Howard Ashman–Alan Menken musical Little Shop of Horrors. Directed by Michael Mayer and co-starring Tammy Blanchard (Life with Judy Garland, Gypsy) and Christian Borle (Something Rotten!, Smash), the show's previews begin Tuesday, September 17, at the Westside Theatre; with opening night set for Thursday, October 17.

Groff's Seymour is the hapless, lovestruck florist who creates a monster when he starts feeding a voracious, people-eating and fast-growing plant. Blanchard plays Seymour's co-worker and love interest Audrey, while Borle is joining the cast as Orin Scrivello, Audrey's sadistic dentist boyfriend.

Premiering Off Off Broadway in 1982, Little Shop of Horrors would eventually move on to Off Broadway, Broadway, London, and stages across the globe – cementing the careers of Ashman and Menken. In 1986, a Frank Oz-directed film version premiered, with a cast that included Rick Moranis, original stage production star Ellen Green, John Candy, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, and many more.

Mindhunter writer/EP David Fincher revealed the date during a session of KCRW's podcast The Treatment before being confirmed by Netflix: The announcement confirms what executive producer Charlize Theron stated on The Howard Stern Show in May 2019 that the second season of the award-winning drama would debut late summer. Created by Joe Penhall, the series was originally renewed shortly after the series' 2017 debut.

Fincher was on record early as saying that the next season would focus on The Atlanta Child Murders, which resulted in the deaths of at least 28 African-American children, adolescents, and adults between 1979-1981 and kept the country in a grip of fear for two years. FBI agent John E. Douglas (on which Groff's Holden Ford is based) would eventually catch the killer; and interestingly enough, also earn him an official reprimand over the manner in which the case was handled.

In an interview with Vulture, Douglas confirmed the overall plans for the series as well as some of the familiar names expected to appear:

"At least five years is what they are planning. That's what David Fincher asked both the actors: 'Can you give me five years here?'…I know there are supposed to be eight episodes [in the second season]. I know the cases. They are going to have David Berkowitz, as well as Charles Manson. The Atlanta child killings in the early '80s, they're gonna be covering that."

● Fincher will direct the premiere and finale episodes of Mindhunter, while Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James, Killing Me Softly) will helm two episodes, and filmmaker Carl Franklin (House Of Cards, 13 Reasons Why) will direct the remaining episodes – for an expected 8-episode second season (according to The Playlist).

Fincher directed four episodes and executive produced the first season, which takes place in 1979 and focuses on FBI Special Agents Holden Ford (Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) during the early days of the FBI's serial killer profiling unit. The partners interview imprisoned serial killers in order to better understand how they think and operate, which they then apply to solving open cases. But as the agents delve deeper into the minds of the most criminally insane, those around them worry if they can find their way back. And even if they do… can they ever be the same again?

Anna Torv (Fringe) and Hannah Gross (Unless) also star, with Joe Tuttle, Albert Jones, Stacey Roca, Michael Cerveris, Lauren Glazier, and Sierra McClain also aboard. Fincher, Theron, Penhall, Joshua Donen (Gone Girl), and Cean Chaffin (Fight Club) are serving as executive producers.

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