Little Shop of Horrors

This is one of my favourite shows, and although it has a cult following, it is difficult to entice new audiences in the numbers it deserves.  This was a very different interpretation of this show, starting with searchlight raking the auditorium and a Pathe News style introduction.  When the curtains opened a mostly black and white 2 dimensional, comic book set and props were revealed.  The main set was of Mushnik’s flower shop with counter, window and door to the street, and large double doors upstage centre worked well; because of the set design the audience were prepared to believe that the ‘trash can’ and ‘tramps and winos’ were outside the shop.  Staging was on two levels, the upper level predominantly for the Band and Radio Studio.  The screen with the shadow puppets showing Audrey’s imaginings in ‘Somewhere that’s Green’ was lovely, and the renovation of the flower shop with the revolving panels was smooth and effective.  The audience found the appearance of Orin on his ‘flat motor bike’ very funny.  In fact the audience appreciated all the ‘flat’ props and found the body parts being fed to the plant hilarious, which overcame the usual embarrassment of “should I find the fact that the dentist is being fed to the plant funny?”  The inset of Orin’s dental surgery, brought on in front of Mushnik’s shop with the dentist chair, worked well despite the evening I was there the flat falling and he almost ended up wearing it, but it was restored quickly and Orin did not let the incident spoil his concentration.  The costumes from Sue Pemberton, combined with make-up and hairstyles, were in keeping with the period in which it was set, late 50’s early 60’s.  The Band, under the first time Musical Director Jacqueline Adams, provided a good accompaniment, never overpowering the singers, while generating the energy required for this rock musical.  The cast handled the difficult music well, singing tunefully, with good harmonies and attack. The one problem, which arose from the staging, was as the Band was positioned above and behind the cast it was very difficult for the MD to bring singers and musicians in together, resulting in a few missed notes occasionally at the beginning of songs.  The show had been well cast and there were strong portrayals.  Chiffon, Crystal and Ronette, were well played, creating the street wise kids, who are like a Greek chorus, at times being part of the action and at others commenting on and moving the story on.  They had all developed and maintained the hard attitude, which enabled them to survive on Skid Row.  Audrey played by Pippa Thomas was well sung and acted, achieving the vulnerable naivety which the part demands, tolerating the sadistic attacks of Orin, but unable to break free in case he does something worse.  There was a sympathetic rapport between Audrey and Seymour, the downtrodden orphan destined to be ill-treated by his boss for the rest of his life, until Audrey II arrives to change his fortune.  Their duets were well balanced and emotive.  The character of Mushnik was well established and maintained throughout the show.  Mushnik and Son had been well choreographed and was great fun; there were influences of Strictly Come Dancing about it.  The character of Orin was well acted but for me it was too over the top, he was too manic, there has to be an attractive element about him or not even Audrey would fall for him, and would anyone be attracted to someone wearing clothes covered in so much blood?  He handled the very difficult death scene well.  The Puppeteers working the Audrey II’s did an excellent job, particularly the fully-grown plant.  It is physically demanding and is not an easy task to co-ordinate movements and voice.  You certainly brought the plant to life with both movement and voice giving ‘her’ a character of ‘her’ own.  Those playing the other roles brought individuality to them, coping well with the quick changes.  The one disappointment I had was the ending, not having the dire warning not to feed the plants from all the characters, including those eaten by the plant.  Juliet Ascroft in her directing debut had brought some interesting interpretations to the production, had encouraged her cast to develop well-rounded characters, and ensured everyone kept up a good pace.  The show needs a team of dedicated people working together in all areas for it to be a success, which it was.  Well done everyone.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.