Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors, a musical staged and performed by Preston Musical Comedy Society at Preston Playhouse Theatre, Market Street, Preston on Saturday 12th July 2025.

Little Shop of Horrors is a mouth-watering sci-fi horror musical with a 1960s pop/rock score penned by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman containing several well-known tunes, including the title song, ‘Skid Row (Downtown)’, ‘Somewhere That's Green’, and ‘Suddenly, Seymour’.  Seymour Krelborn is a meek and dejected assistant working at Mushnik’s Floral Shop, who happens upon a strange plant, which he affectionately names ‘Audrey II’ after his ‘crush’ at the shop. Little does he know that this strange and unusual plant has an unquenchable thirst for HUMAN BLOOD. As ‘Audrey II’ grows bigger and meaner, the carnivorous plant promises limitless fame and fortune to Seymour, as long as he continues providing a fresh supply of blood. Just when it’s too late, Seymour discovers Audrey II’s extra-terrestrial origins and its true drive for world-domination!

Production Team... tasked with guiding us through the fauna, flowers and foliage of Mushnik’s Flower Shop we had Steve Chesters 
(Director/Choreographer), Anne Arkwright (Associate Director) and Jo Duckworth (Musical Director) and what a job they made of it!  This rock horror comedy lends itself to a production team who want to stamp their own vision on things and that’s just what  Steve, Anne and Jo achieved here in Preston.  I’ve seen many Steve Chester productions over the years, always high on Steve’s priority list, is ‘attention to detail’ and that was oh so evident again.  There’s no doubt that Steve, Anne and Jo had a great cast to work with... no weak links and that showed throughout, especially in the ‘big production’ numbers. Jo did a great job with these amazing musical numbers, from rock to pop, from ballad to Motown. We had some tremendous vocals and some delightful harmonies. Finally, and I’m slightly back tracking to Steve and the choreography which was simple yet so very effective!  Loved the togetherness and the simplicity of movement, you don’t need extravagance to create an impression... be very proud you three!  

The Cast... a cast of sixteen took to the stage led ever so well by Jack Price and Olivia Humpage our lead roles ... ‘Seymour’ and ‘Audrey’ respectively. Craig Heyworth took the role of ‘Audrey II’, John Gordon Lane played ‘Orin’, Mark Kendall played ‘Mr Mushnik’, ‘The Ronettes’ (our Greek Chorus) were played ever so well by Helen Bilsbrough, Hannah Ayres, Kate Parkes who played ‘Crystal’, ‘Ronnette’ and ‘Chiffon’ respectively.  Paula Carter, Hannah Thurston, Gemma Jones, Bruce McLaren, Lucy Spencer, Alyson Martin, Dan Haresnape, Steve Hall and Bruce McLaren formed the Ensemble, wow, they really did work tirelessly throughout, not only supporting the principles, but creating believable, relatable characters themselves who left nothing on stage, they gave us everything they had on possibly the ‘hottest day’ of the year... respect to you all!  I’m never one to ‘sit on the fence’  at this stage in my ‘show reports’ ... I’m one for sticking the old neck out and suggesting My ‘showstealer(s)’ and MY favourite characters/songs/scenes etc. These are MY favourites, everyone present will no doubt have their own ideas, but these are mine...  SHOWSTEALER and this wasn’t easy… I had three contenders ... Seymour, Audrey and The Ronettes!  In the end I ‘plumped for Olivia Humpage’s portrayal of ‘Audrey’ our abused, ditzy shop worker! Wow what a job Olivia made of this role. Olivia has amazing stage presence, she made this character her own with mannerisms, facial expressions and a voice to kill for... her rendition of ‘Suddenly Seymour’ with Seymour and The Ronettes was amazing ‘topped only’ by ‘Something that’s Green’ (SHOWSTOPPING SONG for ME) ... it almost brought the house down. Be very proud Olivia... sensational job.  Jack Price provided us with another outstanding character in the form of the romantic nerd, our unlikely awkward hero that was Seymour. Another great character created, great mannerisms, loved the facial expressions, especially when sat in the ‘dentist chair’ (think we all probably pull faces like that when sat in our dentist chair) ... again be very proud Jack.  Final favourite, could so easily have been MY showstoppers ... The Ronettes (our Greek Chorus who kept us abreast of everything happening on ‘Skid Row’) ...  Helen Bilsbrough, Hannah Ayres, Kate Parkes who played ‘Crystal’, ‘Ronnette’ and ‘Chiffon’ respectively. They opened the show with ‘Little Shop of Horrors’... followed that up almost immediately with ‘Skid Row’ opened by Kate (wow what a voice). Kate was then joined by Helen and Hannah and the ensemble... what an opening, couldn’t get much better, it just set the tone for the entire performance ... be ever so proud ladies, tremendous job!  Honestly, I could go on, this was a great production from a cast who gave us everything including bucket loads of sweat I would suggest ... be very proud each and all.  PS: if I haven’t mentioned you directly, please, please, please don’t think you weren’t noticed because that’s so far from the truth, it was very much a ‘team effort’... you all brought something to this wonderful production!

Staging/Tech/Set... loved the actual stage set up around ‘Skid Row’ and ‘Mushnik’s shop’, the exit and entrances points were located perfectly which allowed the production to ‘flow’ with ease! Loved the set/staging for the Dentist scene, with the ‘two flats, the chair, the instruments, that were ‘rusty, antique, which they don’t make like that anymore’ sturdy, heavy, DULL... ahahaha. Also impressive was the ‘growth of Audrey II’ and how that growth happened in front our eyes, without us actually seeing it happen... or was that just me! But whatever, it worked ever so well. Congrats to the Stage Team led by Lucy Baines (Stage Manager) and her crew James Moss and Eleanor Jolliffe.  Lighting design was good and added something to each scene and looked well put together ... designed by Sam Robinson-Davies and operated by Tom Schofield. Sound... Sam Robinson-Davies and Lewis Hawksey. Again, the sound was solid, although I did feel there were times, especially when a full cast was on stage, that the music and the volume from the ensemble voices slightly overpowered the lead singer/singers, meaning, on occasions, we did lose a little clarity from the lead(s)... nothing that spoiled the enjoyment, but something to consider for the future! Special Mention to Craig Heyworth (Audrey II) who was impressive throughout as Audrey II both visually and vocally (both spoken and sung) ... noteworthy!

Costumes... fabulous, from the ‘street characters’ to the ‘dancers, from Orin’s outfit to those of Audrey, Seymour and Mushnik... appropriate for the period... perfect, enhanced the show. Keeping an eye all things ‘wardrobe’, we had Lisa Jolliffe, Eleanor Jolliffe and Ruth Phillips.

Props... first rate and again enhanced the show... Orin’s head gear was fabulous! 

I do think this is probably the best version of this show I’ve seen and I’ve seen it on a number of occasions now... great characters created, great togetherness throughout, as I said previously... nothing was left on stage by anyone and I’m sure that wasn’t easy considering the temperature that day had reached mid 30’s.  Three words ... effort, energy, enthusiasm... be very proud each and all!

Loved the show, so glad I was able to attend!  Thanks to Eddie, Jean and Pat for their welcome and it was really nice to meet your Chairman Mark Howard.  Every success for the future... hope to see you all again at some stage!

Stay safe, Keep well ...
Stronger Together
Jim Briscoe ...
NODA NW District 6 Rep

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