Little Shop of Horrors

It was opening night for LODS at the Palace Theatre and it was a busy night. The theatre was full of expectation and no one was disappointed. What a treat this evening was, and what a wealth of talent!

The scene was set as we entered the theatre, we could see the interior of the flower shop in the midst of skid row. There were strange sounds and a mist across the stage. As the house lights dimmed….. Bam! Our ears were full of music and then Crystal, Ronnie and Chiffon, played by Gemma Lloyd, Declan Wright and Rebecca Wallace gave a fabulous introduction to the show. Each had a great voice and the harmonies were pleasing but it was Declan’s voice that stood out. His tone and vocal gymnastics filled me with delight.

We were introduced to Seymour, played by James Cohen, a weedy, self-deprecating flower shop worker. James gave life to Seymour not only in his appearance, but in his stature and voice. (I loved his nervous giggle) James kept character extremely well and encouraged the audience to empathise with his plight. Put upon by his employer Mr. Mushnik, and secretly loving Audrey, his colleague. The flower shop owner, Mr. Mushnik, was played by Peter Brown, another great character, grumpy, stingy and exploitative. Audrey, played by Reanne Nash was in my opinion extraordinary. She doesn’t realise her appeal; she is so used to being abused by her awful boyfriend that she has little regard for her own self-fulfilment. She gives her dignity to Orin, her heart to Seymour and her life to Audrey 2. When Reanne sang ‘Somewhere that’s Green’ she held the audience in her hand; she stood in the spotlight, you could see the tears in her eyes, and her pure, clear voice was the only sound in the theatre: Simply breath-taking. Orin was played by Tom Johnson. Comedically maniacal, Tom must have been exhausted by this role. He met his grisly end by gassing himself with his own nitrous oxide. Unfortunately, Orin’s home-made gas mask fell apart during his death scene but Tom carried on very professionally and his final fall to the floor was a kind of divine retribution for his abusive and sadistic deeds.

The main antagonist in ‘Little shop of Horrors’ is Audrey two. Fed on human blood, we see Audrey Two grow from a week but ‘strange and interesting plant’ into a huge man-eating, multi suckered, ‘mean green mother…’

Audrey two is voiced by the brilliantly talented Tilly Tait and animated by puppeteer Joe Peek. The coordination of the animation and the voice was very well done. The flicks of the roots and the shape of the mouth worked well. I enjoyed the ensemble joining to represent the suckers of the plant and of course they were a great way to make sure that the characters that were fed to Audrey met their ends effectively.

I was impressed by every aspect of this production. The American accents were spot-on, the singing voices were clear, diction was perfect and I could hear every harmony. It’s obvious that the company work well as a team. I enjoyed the use of the stage; the choreography fit so well with the music and there was good shaping to ensemble pieces. The scenes were changed by the cast, which worked really well.  The orchestra was great and I almost wished the orchestra pit could be raised so we could have applauded the musicians in the curtain call. Props and costumes were excellent and were perfect for the time. I particularly enjoyed the progression of Audrey’s costume but you could also see the difference from the beginning, when the characters were scruffy and poor, to later when they had become successful. For those LODS members backstage, technical and to the whole supporting company well done. Little Shop of Horrors is a warning that we should not feed our own greed but it is also a fabulous celebration of theatre and a welcome antidote to the greyness I felt during lockdown. Thank you for inviting me to share in this performance. I look forward to seeing future shows.

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