You haven’t had time to watch “Friends” in weeks. You’ve forgotten what the inside of a bar looks like. You’ve had a standing date with your calculus textbook every evening for days. Well, it’s time to clear your schedule, if only for a few hours, and cruise on over to Fisher Theatre for the ISU Theatre Department’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. It opens at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Little Shop follows the life of Seymour, a homely, bespectacled flower shop worker who pines after the bombshell Audrey from afar. Audrey, of course, is involved with the wrong type of guy, and Seymour is determined to convince her that she belongs with him. Throw in a talking Venus flytrap with an appetite for blood (affectionately dubbed “Audrey II” by Seymour), and you have an adventure and love story with a major twist.

Many people will remember this show from the movie with Rick Moranis and Steve Martin, and actually, the stage production also has origins on the big screen: it is based on the B-movie classic by Roger Corman. While the two versions follow the same basic plotline, the stage production has a totally different ending.

“I think people should be aware that it’s not the same kind of ending,” said Marge Bennett Folger, director and choreographer. “It’s a very gruesome, very gory ending. [Of the movie and the theater version], I like the stage show. The movie took liberties with the original script, and they got away with it because they were working with the original writers and staff. The movie worked for [Jim] Hensen and the puppeteers and gave a more uplifting feel. I think this ending is funnier, a little more interesting. Maybe there’s more a sense of reality.”

The stage show does maintain a fabulous musical score, including some parodies of 60s tunes and R&B, with a little doo-wop thrown in for good measure. And while technically, Little Shop is a “musical,” don’t go thinkin’ that it’s Oklahoma!

“There’s lots of movement in the show,” Folger explained. “It’s not like A Chorus Line, what you normally think of a dance show. It’s not dance; it’s movement. So it’s not just straight dialogue all the way through; we give it a little pep in there.”

A big hunk of comedy and parody also adds to Little Shop’s kick. You’ll be laughing through most of the show, and don’t be surprised if your sides hurt later. “It’s just all so tongue-in-cheek,” Folger said. “It’s all fun. You take it seriously, because that’s the way to play comedy, but it’s a lot of fun . . . I really think people will have a good time.”

People who are familiar with the movie may be wondering how on earth the theater crew will deal with Audrey II. You can’t find just anyone to dress up like an enormous plant, after all, and a live performance eliminates the possibility of some fancy computer work.

“We have to have a plant that talks,” Folger explained. “We rented three of the plants and are building the fourth. There’s a puppeteer inside doing the movement . . . The voice comes from off-stage; it is separate from the person doing the movement. There’s a big challenge in coordinating the movement of the lips.

“The plant has to act as well. Anyone who does Little Shop, to have to do that plant is a challenge. It’s just like the Muppets; you forget that Miss Piggy and Kermit aren’t real.”

Obviously, this production has taken mountains of work. Plus, all of the actors, like the rest of us, are students with full-time classloads, chemistry tests and reading assignments. Practice started the second week of classes and has continued, five nights a week, through this week.

“That’s what ISU Theater does,” Folger explained. “That’s our normal schedule. It’s no different than an athletic team. People don’t see us that way.

“A musical takes a little longer; there’s more elements to put together. It’s a little more complex rehearsal schedule … We’ve all been putting in long, long, long hours. Hopefully it won’t show; it will look like a piece of cake.”

Folger urges everyone to give themselves a break from cramming for tests and upcoming exams. Little Shop is definitely worth the money and trip to Fisher. “I just don’t think people should miss this one,” she said. “With midterms and all that, it’s a good time to forget about some of that stuff. We’re now providing an outlet to entertain.”

Little Shop of Horrors opens tonight at 7:30 p.m. Additional shows are this Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Nov. 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.

Tickets cost $6.75 for students and are available through Ticketmaster, the Iowa State Center Box Office and at the door.