Little Shop of Horrors

Welcome back to the stage Port Talbot AOS Youth Theatre!! It was a privilege to be deputising for
Luke Spencer seeing PT Youth smashing this musical out of the park. I am not sure what my word
count is for this review, but I hope there’s enough space!

Now it is well known that I am the MD for the adult section of Port Talbot Musical Theatre so
therefore some may think I might be bias, however I attended this production with no preconceived
thoughts, a clear mind and more importantly as a NODA Rep for District 6 and Youth Advisor for
Wales & Ireland so I was always going to be fair and impartial.

Little Shop of Horrors is a cult classic! With music by the great Alan Menken and Lyrics / Book by
Howard Ashman it is always going to be a great musical. You may have seen it many times but just in
case you haven’t : Seymour (Thomas Murray) and Audrey (Ruby Daniels) are assistants at the Skid
Row flower shop owned by Mr. Mushnik (Rhys Murray). Business is lousy. But when Seymour
discovers an exotic new plant, which he names Audrey II, customers flock to see it. Seymour hopes
his success will impress Audrey I enough to convince her to leave her cruel dentist boyfriend, Orin
(Logan Phillips). There's only one problem: The plant thrives on human blood — and Seymour only
has so much to give. As Audrey II grows larger, he realizes that the only way to fulfill his dream is to
kill.

The leads in this version of the show were great and at this point I must give a special mention to
Thomas Murray whose portrayal of Seymour was excellent. The nerdy, naïve, love hungry
characterization was delivered with some ease and it really was a pleasure to watch him perform.
Definitely a star of the future. Thomas, support by brother Rhys as Mushnik and Ruby as Audrey
delivered great performances and I will put my head on the block here - they will all have a future in
theatre if they continue to work hard and deliver performances like this. Logan Phillips as the Dentist
- we get the sense that he huffs nitrous oxide just so he can feel any emotions at all! Very good
characterization, vocals were on point, and he made me laugh – a lot!

PT Youth always have an abundance of talent, non-more so than Olivia Tallamy, Madison Chapman,
Hollie Williams, Katie-Marie Rees, Caitlin O’Leary and Jess Tomkins. 3 became 6, covering the vocals
and script of what is historically a trio of Chiffon, Crystal and Ronette but this worked and gave more
opportunities to the older youth members.

The work of Ben Williams as the voice of Audrey 2 and Puppetry by Evan Cross did not go unnoticed!
Those large plants were – MASSIVE and it must have felt like a gym work out for Evan! Well done to
both of you. I cannot write this without mentioning Gethin Edwards whose multiple personalities
and acting ability was put to the test as he played no less than 4 roles – Bernstein, Mrs Luce, Snip
and Martin! Great Job Gethin! All the supporting roles were great though, so well done folks!
Supporting the main cast were a plethora of youngsters who when on stage gave it 100%, never
missed a cue or a choreography step. And big shout out must go to Anthony Argyle for whipping
them into shape. Dance wise it was on point for what the show is! Its not Copacabana but it needs to
be the right style, and this is something Anthony does very well.

Being an MD, I always subconsciously pay a lot of attention to the sound and band so tonight was no
exception. Sound wise I didn’t miss a line or a vocal cue which is a pleasant surprise in amateur
theatre! The 8-piece band, led very well by Ryan Joseph Jones, gave the cast a real lift and provided
that live sound so desperately needed in musical theatre. They were very tight, with a good overall
balance leading the youth on a fabulous journey throughout the show.

The set and plants were awesome and it’s always nice to see Gareth “Eddie” Edwards making his
little cameos moving set around the stage - reliving his youth! Congratulations to Director Emma
Davies and the whole team at Port Talbot AOS Youth Theatre on what has been a very successful
return to the musical stage after a long lay off due to the dreaded covid!

Well done to you all!

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