Sarah Hyland Says Wells Adams Had a ‘Very Sexual’ Reaction to Her Little Shop of Horrors Character’s Voice

Sarah Hyland's latest role has her husband Wells Adams feeling all the feels.

The Modern Family alumna, 33, is currently starring in the hit Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors, playing skid row sweetheart Audrey. And while the ingénue's coworker Seymour (No Hard Feelings star Andrew Barth Feldman) ultimately wins Audrey's heart in the end, he might have a little competition from Adams himself!

During a visit to Live with Kelly and Mark on Friday, May 31, Hyland revealed that Adams had a strong response to hearing her take the character, which was originated by Broadway legend Ellen Greene in the original 1982 production and corresponding 1986 film.

"I don't do the Ellen Greene accent," says Hyland, adding that she also didn't mimic the voice Kerry Butler used in the 2003 Broadway revival. "But my husband was asking me on the phone, 'Hey, how do you do it? Do it for me!' So I gave him a little preview over the phone of the accent."

What Hyland got in return was what she called "the wildest reaction I could have imagined."

"He goes, ‘This is going to be very sexual for me,' " Hyland recalled, noting she said, 'What?! What!' in response. "He was like, ‘It’s like my wife is doing Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny and it’s very hot.’ "

Hyland and Feldman, 22, joined the company of Little Shop of Horrors on May 28. The pair join a long line of stars who have stepped into the award-winning production at the Westside Theatre in New York City, including Jonathan Groff, Tammy Blanchard, Darren Criss, Evan Rachel Wood, Skylar Astin, Maude Apatow, Matt Doyle, Lena Hall, Gideon Glick, Constance Wu, Jeremy Jordan, Conrad Ricamora, and most recently, Corbin Bleu and Jinkx Monsoon.

Directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer, the musical features a score by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman that includes such showtune classics as "Skid Row," "Somewher -

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e That's Green," "Suddenly Seymour," "Feed Me" and the title track.

Little Shop of Horrors brings Hyland back to the boards in New York City, nearly 10 years after playing Jacqueline "Jackie" Bouvier in the original 2006 Broadway production of Grey Gardens. Feldman, meanwhile, landed the lead role inDear Evan Hansenon Broadway in 2019 after winning the prestigious Jimmy Award when he was in high school.

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Getting back on stage wasn't easy for Hyland, who has been married to Wells since August 2022. She told Live hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos that she was "terrified, nervous and fearful" to return, adding that she was "judgmental" of her own abilities.

"I mean, it’s been 17 years since I did 8 shows a week," she said. "So it’s been a really, really long time."

Luckily she has a great support system. "Everyone that’s a part of Little Shop — the crew, the creative team, all of the actors — are just like, the kindest nicest most talented people," Hyland said. "And then to be doing it alongside Andrew Barth Feldman who is a genius and he’s so talented. I can’t talk more about it than I already have. We just have so much fun together and I’m having a blast."

And she's got plenty of love from alums of the production. "I’m friends with a lot of the past Seymour’s, actually," Hyland said. "And a lot of them texted me afterwards like Darren and Skyler and Matt. They all said the exact same thing — the exact same verbiage. And I was like, ‘Am I joining a cult? 'Cause I think I’m into it.' "

Tickets forLittle Shop of Horrorsare available now atlittleshopnyc.com.

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