Little Shop of Horrors

It was great to be back in Droitwich for a tale of love, flowers, and mean-eating plants, as Little Shop of Horrors came to the Norbury.  This fast moving, tuneful, and frankly bonkers show is always great fun, and I’m glad to say that in their telling of it the Norbury Players did not disappoint!

Little Shop of Horrors is the rather gruesome tale of a flesh-eating plant which literally falls from space into an unsuspecting community, where it is taken in by the hapless Seymour Krelborn.  As it happens, Seymour works at a struggling florist, and it isn’t long before Audrey II (named after the co-worker on whom Seymour has a crush) is pulling in the punters.  But the plant has an insatiable appetite – for human blood – and the play ends in a grimly farcical denouement, with the entire principal cast having been consumed by the growing monster, which by that point fills half the shop. 

The two leads – Ben Moore as Seymour and Megan Harrington as Audrey – both gave very good performances, clearly sung and with good chemistry.  ‘Suddenly, Seymour’, always a favourite, was full of emotion as the two showed their feelings for each other.  Chris Sugars played Mr Mushnik with vigour, and the audience particularly enjoyed his dance with Seymour in ‘Mushnik and Son’.  Chris Newbould gave the controlling dentist Orin Scrivello an unhinged feel, with a manic laugh that bought to mind the Joker from Batman. 

The trio of ‘Ronettes’ are, in some ways, the core of any performance of Little Shop, which puts quite a responsibility on the shoulders of those playing them.  I’m happy to report that Amanda Blockley (Crystal), Rebekah Hudson (Ronnette) and Hayley Gass (Chiffon) absolutely rose to the challenge, with great, clearly sung harmonies and well synchronised movements (congratulations too to choreographer Lois Press.)  ‘The Meek Shall Inherit’ is one of my favourite songs from this show, and I don’t think I’ve seen it done better.

Believe it or not, I have seen Audrey II voiced by a woman before, but on that occasion the usual deep voice of the character was retained.  In contrast, Emma Waters gave the character a much more feminine feel, whilst retaining the menace required to depict a creature that kills most of the rest of the cast!  Alison Chorley and Miriam Griffiths did a good job as the puppeteers, and I liked the fact that by the end of the show Audrey II’s leaves all but obscured the rear wall of the set. 

Unusually (in my experience, at least), this version of Little Shop included a ten-strong ensemble.  They weren’t used hugely, but there were a couple of songs in the first half – ‘Skid Row’ and especially ‘You Never Know’ – that were noticeably enhanced by their presence.  At other times I was unsure what their function was, as members of the ensemble moved about the set during the dialogue sections, distracting a little from the principals as the story was being set up.

Director Paul Steele did a good job of keeping the story moving and, importantly for this show, bringing the action closer to the audience.  Musical Director Laurence Nicholas led a very strong band, even by the Norbury’s usual high standards.  I thought there were a few volume issues, particularly with the vocals which were sometimes a little distorted as a result.  This is a bit of a shame in a show like this, which is dependent to some extent on being able to hear the clever lyrics clearly.

The show was played out before a very good set depicting the interior of Mushnik’s florists and the streets of skid row outside.  I know it’s not easy to keep these two locations separate, but there was quite a lot of walking through the ‘fourth wall’ of the shop straight into the street!  Costumes were good and appropriate to the period in which the show is set, with the Ronnettes in particular enjoying a succession of good outfits.  And Audrey II was very well depicted in all of its incarnations!

Well done to all at the Norbury for delivering a very enjoyable version of this entertaining show.  I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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