Little Shop of Horrors

Horrors galore – all very enjoyable!  Everything worked so well, in particular a very impressive Audrey II. This is one of my favourite shows (obviously my gory side coming out!) and I was certainly not disappointed with this production.

So let’s go back in time to the early 1960’s to Skid Row, New York City where things have been going downhill for some time.   The Ronnettes, six ladies with great voices and dancing ability, start things off and appear regularly throughout the piece as they watch with great interest as things go from bad to worse and possibly better at times!   Great changes of costume throughout.

We meet Seymour and Audrey who work for Mr Mushnik, the owner of the flower shop.  Unfortunately, there is no call for a flower shop at that time in Skid Row so things are getting pretty desperate.  Kinny Gardner gave a superb performance as Mr Mushnik – amazing athleticism and facial expressions!   Jack West was a delightful Seymour – very much in love with Audrey who was being abused by her abominable dentist partner but who was too frightened to leave him – a grim reminder that this sort of thing is still happening in today’s world.  So when Seymour comes across a very interesting little plant (naming it Audrey II) things start to look up for the shop.  More of that later!

Emma Symes gave us a charming Audrey who was definitely in a very wrong relationship with the dentist, Orin Scrivello, played by Hayden Cheyne in rumbustious and horrific style – if anyone in the audience had a dental appointment coming up they may well have had nightmares!

The star of the show was, of course Audrey II.  As mentioned in the Director’s notes in the programme, much blood, sweat and tears went into making her grow from a little plant to the horrific man eating freak of nature that she turned out to be.  Many, many congratulations to the construction team who devised this horror, headed by Phil Lucas and of course to the puppeteers who made it possible for so much human blood to be eaten and digested!   Kat Chesterton voiced Audrey II in horrific way which was definitely enough to make one’s flesh creep!

Good work from all those with smaller named parts and the ensemble with Robert Cousins and his band providing the music in excellent fashion.  The colourful programme was a really good read and it was so nice to see an article about life member and chairman Colin Reynolds who, together with his wife Kath, have worked for many years to do everything they can for LOSMT.

So many other folk behind the scenes at all stages of the production working to make this show the success it is with Director Amy Reynolds at the helm with Musical Director Robert Cousins and Choreographer Nicola Murray-Smith.

Thank you LOS Musical Theatre for bringing this wonderfully horrific tale to you delighted audiences.

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