Video: Elizabeth Gillies & Milo Manheim Have Found Their Groove in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

This is Milo Manheim

And this is Liz Gillies. Come see us in Little Shop of Horrors. Ah

I think we might be like, are we a month now? We're a month into our run at this point

It's feeling so much cozier and better than, for me at least

I feel like I've discovered so much more about the character and having the time to sort of sink in

And I won't speak for you, though. No, I was going to say I feel very dropped in at this point

I feel like I've found a way to do the show in a healthy way consistently

I was really learning, you know, we really have to find a sustainable way to do this

And I think we're there now. And it's fantastic. I'm having such a great time

I'm not as nervous as I was to begin because I think we're just comfortable

Yeah, we're cozy. For me, this was my favorite Broadway show. Milo is so sick of me talking about it at this point because I have the same answer every time

No, no, no. I just it's my favorite Broadway show. I've always wanted to play Audrey

And my team was well aware of that. And so I always had an eye out for it

And I hoped that one day an opportunity would present itself. And I was on Dynasty when the show first started

And I was sort of looking on and looking at Instagram. I was like, oh, it looks like so much fun

I really want to do that. So when they called, I was just over the moon. And it's fulfilled every expectation of mine

It's exceeded it, honestly, any expectation. So I'm just, I'm very happy

It's been very important for me. You're probably sick of my answer

But I didn't have that same close relationship to this show that Liz had growing up

but when it came this way it just felt very whimsical from the universe

and that it was time I really wanted to get back into musical theater and I was doing stuff in LA and I really wanted to come to New York And when I found out I was doing it with Liz it just was so cosmic it felt And it was just the time

And now I'm here doing it. It's such a brilliant show, which I didn't really understand

until we really dove in, but it's quite fantastic, and I still find new things every day

And thank God, everybody that's on the team loves it equally as we do

and that energy is infectious. I don't think I've ever worked on anything

that was so easy to hop into. Everybody has like their confidence

They've been doing it for years. So it's such a well-oiled machine. And, you know, just it was so the energy was palpable

When you walk into the theater, I was very nervous. I can't speak for you, but just like opening night

sitting in the dressing room, everyone's like singing and playing games. And I'm like, how are you guys not so focused right now

Like I need to meditate and like breathe through a straw real quick. And they're all just, you know, eating, laughing

And I'm like, this is the energy that I'm trying to pick up. But it's very apparent that they've been doing it for a long time

Yeah, I share a dressing room with all the girls. And that's been maybe one of my, other than working with Milo, one of my favorite things about this

Because they've been such a support system for me vocally and also just with the role

A lot of the girls cover Audrey. And so I'll ask them, I'll be like, during this part, what do you typically do

My back is hurting when I'm getting fed by the plant. Am I doing something wrong? I'm sorry you talked to me about that I did talk to you about it and we resolved it but it wasn't your fault

But I'm just saying like they have so much knowledge They've been doing for so long and they're so willing to share their

their insight and their help and their experience with the show and and and with Audrey in that role and what they seen And I very grateful for that I grateful for all the people that are there And they really let you make your own mistakes and try your own stuff

Early on in rehearsal, I'm like, I'm going to do it this way. And that's the right way. They're like, cool, figured

And then two weeks in, I'm like, you were right. That's not that. That was terrible. That's not at all correct. So it's just been cool

They know what they're doing over there completely. I have fallen more in love with live theater, I think, than I expected to through this experience

I had been doing primarily only, you know, singing on camera and stuff like that

I really enjoy the live element of it and it's been wonderful. But, of course, all experience is a good experience

And, yeah, the fans have definitely been showing up for both of us. It's amazing

It's an insane experience at the stage tour every night. It makes gratitude. Yeah, a lot of girls are in love with Milo

A lot of girls are in love with Liz, too. Yeah, it's true. And I will say that, I don't know, there's a certain, like, safety to singing on camera

You're, I don't know. I don't like it. I feel like, look, it feels for me, actually, I might

have thought before doing the show that it was vice versa, but very performative in film. You're

doing it all outward and you're not really, um, focusing on how you're sounding because you've

already recorded it and you hear how you sound. And here I thought being on stage, it would be a

lot more external, but really it's inward and focusing. And, um, you know, Seymour is a little

harder than I anticipated, but you just got to focus on what's right in front of you, not all

these faces that are all smiling and very happy to be there and nonjudgmental But if I belting something about a plant then that just between me and the plant And that how I been thinking about it I get a little nervy but it feels alive

It feels so alive. That's why we do it. That's why we love it. I also love, like, I've lost my voice several times during this show

and I'll go in anyway. Tonight's going to be one of those nights. And I feel like I have to, so we're way past Greathers

I feel like I have to overcompensate with other parts of the show. And through doing that, I've had some of my better performances acting

for sure when I lose my voice because I'm like, I can't sound pretty. I'll have people leave the theater being like

oh, she can really act her ass off even though she sounded like shit tonight. So I do that

and I'll do it tonight. I like it. You know what? I find things through desperation

and you lose some of the tools in your toolbox and you're like, okay, let me try this. And, you know, some of them

stick and some of them, thank God I did it and thank God it happened because I wouldn't have tried it if I was

just singing pretty and comfortable. It doesn't even feel like, you know, my voice is gone today so let me

try to, you know, lean on the acting more. Well, for me, it's more like, okay, I'm feeling tired

today. Let me stop putting this expectation on myself to do a certain show. And when I go into

it that way, I find just I'm very connected with the person in front of me. I found that having

this is a weird thing to say, but like when you're really excited for a show, it's not often that you

meet every expectation of it. It's going to be so different and weird. But when you're just like

all right, let's get through this show today, then oftentimes it really surprises you

And, you know, we're human. So every morning we wake up feeling different

But that doesn't dictate how we feel about the show that day. I'm learning a lot of life lessons doing this show

It's great. It's great