Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors is described as a horror-comedy musical with the book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, and music by Alan Menken. The scene opens on a very down and out flower shop on Skid Row in the 60’s, belonging to Mr Mushnik. The intricate set by Scenic Projects creates the perfect atmosphere and along with the so essential numerous versions of ‘Audrey II’, a blood seeking plant which grows ever bigger as the show progresses. It is the heart of this show, and the ‘plant’ does not disappoint.  Allan Rogers is the lead Puppeteer along with Sam Earthroll and Kit Widdup who brings this evil monster to life along with the voice of the Audrey II, Vicky Fosker.  It is a very demanding role for all four of them working within the cramped confines of this giant structure to co-ordinate the movements of this hungry plant to the voice without being seen by the audience.  They all did a grand job, with probably with very little rehearsal time when using the actual plant.   

The large talented cast of 29 spread across a wide age range and which included many supporting actors, were constantly involved, never losing their characters for an instant whilst spread across this multi-level set. The four main leads gave powerful performances, Seymour (Aidan Palmer-Garrick), Mr Mushnik (Simon Hoyle), Audrey (Cara Dessaur) and Orin, the evil dentist (Ryan Cope) were excellent, convincing in every aspect of their roles.   Also appearing on stage for most of the production were the three girls, Ronette (Rebecca Hutchison) Crystal (Freyer Marsh) & Chiffon (Katy Spall) who gave superb performances with their strong harmonies and dancing. There were also mini versions of these three, namely Violet Wheatley, who was just 12 years old, Caitlyn Youngs and Samuel Phillippo-Clapp. They all acted their socks off the entire time, singing and dancing alongside the older girls and emulating them.

The excellent direction from Sarah ensured that the stage never looked overcrowded, and the good pace was upheld throughout with the scene changes being slick. Sarah along with Lily and Mia choreographed the production with skill and expertise throughout. Musically the singing and harmonies from all were first class under the direction of Dermot. He along with his 4 other musicians were seated high up on a balcony. I’m sure most of the audience would not have known there was a live band, such was the quality of their playing, if they had not spotted them on the balcony. The costumes which had been sourced in-house were all totally appropriate, with the sound and lighting complimenting the production.

Thank you to Sarah and Neil for your warm welcome. Company of Four can be very proud of this excellent production to their very supportive audience.

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