Little Shop of Horrors

Not afraid to say, Little Shop of Horrors is my favourite musical, I’m sure this stems from when I played the part of Ronnette myself many years ago.

The show opens down on Skid Row where we are introduced to Seymour played by Mark Cornaby, who added just the right amount of naivety and gullibility to the character when pairing him with the sweet, vulnerable Audrey, Deanna Mullen.  Mark was perfectly cast and has a beautiful tone to his singing voice.  On the night I attended he also had to deal with a major wardrobe malfunction which he coped with extremely well.  Deanna played the role in her own way. I picked up on a few nuances throughout the dialogue and I also noticed there were a few expertly placed pauses giving a different emotion and meaning to some elements of the text.  “Somewhere that’s Green” was fabulous, as was “Suddenly Seymour” and “Sominex/Suppertime”.

Both Seymour and Audrey work in a rundown florist shop owned by Mrs Mushnik, played with confidence and experience by Ally Flint.  This role is written for a male, however this change in casting worked well especially in “Mushnik and Son”.  There are the three street urchins who see and hear everything that happens on Skid Row, Ronnette, Chiffon and Crystal played by Gracie Evenden, Phoebe Mason and Emilia McCabe respectively.  All three girls told the story throughout, linking each scene and offering  well-meaning advice when dealing with Audrey’s egotistical sleazy boyfriend Orin, played by Aedan Mason.  I think “Now (it’s just the Gas)” is one of the most challenging numbers in any musical theatre production, it really was powerful.

As the shop becomes busier, there is a steady stream of customers to serve, interviews to be given and agents to placate, all of whom were played by the 13 strong ensemble, who did an excellent job with strong chorus numbers including energetic choreography throughout.

A big well done must be given to the unseen heroes, the puppeteers Joseph Burley and Jacob Murphy, and not forgetting to offer a massive well done to James Henderson as the voice of Audrey II, “Feed Me” and “Suppertime” to name just two musical numbers, were both superb.

Congratulations to the production team on such a well-cast entertaining show.  The costumes were great and I must add the scenery on this occasion was absolutely spot on and worked really well in the limited space available on stage.  I know the Audrey II puppets well having hired them myself twice before, it was such a good idea to allow photos with her at the end of the show.

As the saying goes, “You are only as good as your last production” and, in my opinion, Little Shop was not only my favourite but your best to date, and I think the audience thought so too.

Many thanks once again for the invitation.

Joyce Eyre, NODA

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