Menken and Ashman wrote their next musical, "Little Shop of Horrors", for a cast of only 9 performers, including a puppeteer. This musical is based on the 1960 black comedy film "The Little Shop of Horrors". It opened at WPA Theater in 1982 to warm reviews. It moved to the Off Broadway Orpheum Theatre in the East Village, Manhattan, where it ran for five years. The musical set the box-office record for highest grossing Off-Broadway show of all time. It toured around the world, won theater awards and was adapted as a 1986 musical film starring Rick Moranis that earned Menken and Ashman their first Oscar nomination for the song "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space". For his body of work in musical theatre, he was awarded the BMI Career Achievement Award in 1983.