Little Shop of Horrors

It is always a pleasure watching a CYGAMS show. They are a youth society bursting with talent, led by a dedicated team of adults that work tirelessly behind the scenes – anything the adult groups can do CYGAMS can do just as well, if not better. Once again they proved this with another excellent production.

 

I had my doubts over this choice of show for a youth group. “Little Shop of Horrors”, while fun and quirky at first look actually deals with some very adult issues. Domestic violence, romance and death amongst them. But I needn’t have worried as they were tackled expertly in the experienced hands of Director Jimmy Hooper and assistant Olivia Khattar.

 

I applaud the decision by the creative team to have two casts for this show. With so many excellent performers to choose from it would have been impossible to just pick one person for each role, particularly as this isn’t written as a big cast musical. I was lucky enough to watch “Team Menken” and was extremely impressed by both the individual performances and the ensemble and character roles. I understand “Team Ashman” was equally strong.

 

In the demanding role of Seymour, new comer Milo Thorogood was superb with a natural gift for comedy. He gave an endearing portrayal of the down on his luck boy in love with shop assistant Audrey, beautifully done by Phoebe Hooper. Phoebe also has a gift for comedy and together they created some lovely moments. Their rendition of “Suddenly Seymour” was a delight.

 

I really enjoyed Sam Acton as Mushnik, the shop owner. Great characterisation and he was hilarious in the song “Mushnik & Son”, one of the many show highlights. Equally impressive was Hugo Kalair as the evil dentist Orin. I would like to point out here that the physicality of his treatment to Audrey was really well done. Shocking enough without being uncomfortable for the audience.

 

Supporting the principals throughout were the excellent “Divas” in this case six of them rather than the usual three. Georgia Holmes, Francesca Johnson, Liv Surgett, Olivia Cagle, Eira Bhatnagar and Ruby Burtenshaw very well done! The harmonies were maintained throughout and the choreography executed brilliantly.

 

Completing the principal line up, and the only performer to be part of both casts, Olly Blowers was perfect as the carnivorous plant “Audrey II”. Olly has an exceptional voice that suited this role perfectly.

 

The vocals and choreography were of a high standard throughout from the entire cast and it was great to see so much energy from the brilliant ensemble. The band were also excellent led by MD Bryan Cass.

 

My only slight niggle performance wise is that at times a couple of the cast members seemed to get a little carried away, perhaps improvising a bit too much! This meant that some of the dialogue came a little unstuck and lost it’s way. While it’s important to give your best individual performance it’s equally important to have an awareness of your fellow cast members to ensure everyone can play their role within a scene in the way the Director has set it. Just a small thing and something that is learnt with more stage experience.

 

Set was as I would have expected with the main action taking place in or outside the shop. Little details make all the difference, for example the shop door having a bell on it which rang every time someone entered it and the time changing on the clock – very clever as I didn’t actually see anyone physically moving the hands! The star piece of course though is the plant itself, well done to all the puppeteers for creating the right movement and getting the timings spot on.

 

Costumes were good, I thought they were better in Act 2 though, I felt the Divas needed to wear something that made them stand out a little more in Act 1. But I really enjoyed the black and red theme in the second half.

 

Lighting worked really well throughout and was in keeping with each scene. Sound was mainly well balanced, just a few issues with a couple of the mics not being loud enough. But I could still hear the dialogue thanks to good projection from the cast.

 

Overall this was another excellent production from CYGAMS with some difficult content being handled very well. It is a pleasure watching these young people go from strength to strength. They have a challenging programme of upcoming shows and I have no doubt they will execute them with their usual flair and energy and showcase what seems to be a never ending supply of young talent.

 

Thank you as always to the front of house team that looked after me so well and to Jimmy and Olivia for giving me so much of their time. I had a great evening and left once again feeling very lucky to have such a wonderful group in my district.

Victoria Carey

Rep, District 8

 

 

N.B Below additional report for Team Ashman from regional councillor Tessa Davies.

 

This show is known to be a small cast show, and the theatre operator also has a limit on the number of cast allowed on stage in their studio theatre. So, it was quite a shock for Director Jimmy Hooper and the creative team to have almost 90 young people auditioning to take part in the show.

His solution was to cast the complete show twice and have two teams of performers doing three shows each. It was a brave decision, but the calibre of the performers fully justified it.

I was fortunate to see Team Ashman perform and they did a magnificent job. So, this is my report on those performers.

Rocco Watts played Seymour with great style and understanding of the character. I believe this was Rocco’s first main part and it was an outstanding success. I am sure we will see more of this young man in the future.

Daisy Middleton played Audrey beautifully, with just the right amount of desperation at having a man, any man, in her life, that she put up with his appalling treatment. Daisy has been a stalwart of Young Gen’s cast for a few productions; she has great stage presence and experience which give the newer members of the cast an excellent example to aspire to.

I saw Gene Gardner playing Mr Mushnik, I have seen Gene perform in the past and his characterisation was different and refreshing.

Ben Wilson played the Dentist Orin. He is the villain, but Ben was able to inject enough comedy into the part to make it entertaining. Just the right side of ‘over the top’.

Director Jimmy chose to use 6 street urchins (Divas) instead of the normal 3, and this was an excellent decision. The girls opened the show with energy and excellent performances from each of them. As they continued, the energy never wavered. I saw Renee, Edith, Gingerlily, Erin, Charlotte and Millie perform, and it was a real pleasure to see them.

Regrettably, I just do not have the space to mention everyone but the entire ensemble were always at their best with their characterisations and the whole show had an energy that was maintained from the start to the very last note.

I am sure that the other team were equally as good and, once again, congratulations to the creative team, cast and crew for an excellent evening’s entertainment.

I cannot finish without mentioning the hospitality, Young Gen always deliver in the respect which makes it a real pleasure to see their shows. Thank you.

 

Tessa Davies

Councillor

NODA East

 

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