He’s not a demented dentist but Christian Borle plays one on stage in “Little Shop of Horrors,” launching previews Tuesday.
At a meet-and-greet for the revival of the musical revolving around a man-eating plant with a killer set of chompers, he and fellow stars Jonathan Groff and Tammy Blanchard opened wide and spilled real DDS dramas.
“My relationship with my dentist is good; it’s healthy,” says Borle. “I have one of the greatest hygienists in New York City. I will wait for months until she’s free. I went in for a cleaning a couple of weeks ago and they were tickled pink when they heard I was doing this show.”
Groff (“Mindhunter”), who plays flower-shop nerd Seymour, acknowledges a “complicated” DDS history.
“The most personal relationship I have with a dentist is with [one] in Lancaster County, who I’ve seen for years and years,” Groff tells us. “Even when I moved to New York, I would still go home to see him.
“It’s only over the last couple of years that I’ve seen another dentist in New York and I’ve never formally told the other,” he adds. “It’s complicated.”
For Blanchard, who plays the loopy Audrey, it’s pretty simple.
“I need to go to my dentist but I don’t have time to go to my dentist, so I’m going to be scared,” she says. “When I do get time to go, it’s going to be really bad.”
Borle, channeling his role (minus the nitrous-oxide snorting), offers advice to his co-stars and everyone: “It’s not all about the health of your teeth; it’s about the health of your gums.”
The revival of the 1982 show by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman at the Westside Theatre is set to run through Jan. 19.
