Little Shop of Horrors

Since 1964 this society have always presented one show a year, and apart from a couple of Gypsy Barons, a Carmen, a Pink Champagne, and of course, a Merry Window, the rest have always been from the pen of Messrs Gilbert & Sullivan.   So, I was more than a little surprised and if I am honest a little shocked to receive an invitation to a second show this year – and to a show about as far removed from a Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta as it is possible to get, a cult-classic musical no less!   Like many true G & S Societies their membership tends to be more mature and they were having difficulty in encouraging younger members – hence Little Shop of Horrors, and what a great job they made of it too!

I am sure everyone will be more than familiar with the story of the man- eating plant demanding blood, with its moral warning of greed breeding greed and its grizzly and darker side with ‘the plant’ seeking world domination, and not actually being stopped by the end of the show – so somewhat worrying if you dwell on it for too long!!

I loved the opening – ‘inhabitants’ of Skid Row were moving around the theatre, in character and in costume – you know the feeling – “Why is that woman dressed SO oddly?”  “It’s not cold in here – why is she bundled up like that” and, of course, “Why don’t they just find their seat and sit down – its about to start?” It took us a couple of minutes to realise that the show had started and that we were being engaged in conversation with a member of the cast and not a fellow audience member.  It was a great opening and really set the scene well!

The orchestra were very good indeed; and a word of praise here for the ‘teccies’ on the sound desk – well done – we heard every word from the cast, and all the music, the sound balance was just perfect – thank you SO much!

The set was simple but effective and appeared to work well for the cast.  Well done to the crew for keeping everything going so efficiently and effectively and most importantly, quietly.  The use of the gauze across to facilitate scene changes worked well, as did the use of the spotlight to darken the rest of the stage.

There were some lovely touches throughout the from the director, the opening being only the first of many! The whole show had been brought to the stage by an experienced and very talented director, with a great eye for detail, so that the cast and crew were in good hands throughout.

IT is my practice not to ‘name names’ in my reviews (mainly to ensure that I don’t discourage anyone by not actually naming them) however the whole production was very well cast – and everyone seemed ideally suited to their part.  Orin was not only almost more frightening than the plant but gyrated in a highly suggestive but very comic way throughout all his scenes. ‘The Plant’ was just perfect – looked and sounded exactly right – indeed the same can be said for the entire cast – in that they were just perfect.  As you would expect the singing was good and there were some superb characterisations and excellent facial expressions across the whole cast – including the ‘chorus’.     

My absolute congratulations go to everyone involved in this production, the production team, teccies and crew and of course the cast – what came over the lights was a great show well done and very entertaining but it was also a superb example of what our hobby is all about – real team work – people of varying ages and experiences working together, learning from each other and producing a show to give pleasure and enjoyment to so many.  Thank you.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.