DOWNBEATEN

My beloved Calendar is becoming “The Little Mag of Horrors!”

The report on the “upbeat” new ending for the David Geffen/Frank Oz film version of the hit Off-Broadway show “Little Shop of Horrors” ruined my week (Outtakes, by John M. Wilson, Oct. 5).

When will film makers ever learn to leave tried-and-true musical shows alone when they transfer them to the screen? Why is it that they don’t trust the basic material enough to reproduce it as close to its source material as possible?

We have witnessed the ravaging of such classics as “Mame,” “Man of La Mancha,” “Best Little Whorehouse” and, most recently, “A Chorus Line” in their transfer to celluloid. Why do producers feel they must alter a proven hit to accommodate a proposed sequel (at the “deal-making stage”)?

DAVE HUTCHINSON

Mission Viejo