Little Shop Of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors, the cult film of the 80’s, that quickly became equally as popular on stage, was performed by an enthusiastic cast from Stone Revellers.

When staging a musical, one of the major elements to get right, other than the creative content, is the set, be it composite or changing. On entering St Michael’s Church Hall, (not the largest of spaces) I was immediately struck by the utilisation of space. A composite set transported us into Mushnik’s florist shop, with counter, shop door and bell, the exterior ‘Skid Row’ and all typical florists dressings.  Well done to the set design and construction team for creating an appropriate, workable set without over complication or fuss.

Little Shop opens with the introduction of the Ronettes, who are ever-present throughout the piece, commenting on the action through song and interacting with characters. Well done to all three girls who maintained their characters throughout, even when merely dressing the stage. My only criticism here was that on occasions their harmonisations of vocals (of which there are many in this show) were not always on the button and perhaps lacked a little confidence.

The key characters to this show are the ‘odd couple’, Seymour and Audrey, played as the stereotypical misfits. Rob Stanway and Cheryl Duke got it just right with Cheryl obviously having spent much time working on the recreation of the role of Audrey as portrayed by Ellen Greene in the original film. Rob worked tirelessly to maintain his feeble character and although not the strongest of vocalists did a sterling job with his numbers.

Mr Mushnik played by Alec Voss complimented the two leads well as the grouchy, failing florist, showing great contrast when Audrey 2 brings him success and business. Apart from the occasional Jewish moment, I would have liked to have him develop this element of his character with further mumblings and gestures. I did however think he did well in “Mushnik and Son” with the touch of complimentary clarinet from James Duckworth.

Standout performer Daniel Leadbetter as Orin, the sadistic dentist provided the perfect rendition of this comic role. Well done!

For a supporting cast there is plenty to do in this show. The company, although small were all used well, offering additional characters within scenes and musical numbers. They all sang with enthusiasm and, although not always a belting rendition in the larger company numbers, were still sufficient to fill the space, they sang with commitment and purpose.

Who could forget to mention the show’s central piece of foliage, ‘Audrey 2’, traditionally portrayed with the ever increasing puppet. This part was excellently vocalised by Anthony Clowes, bringing life to each stage of the notorious plant’s development. A fabulous rendition of ‘Feed Me!’ gave Anthony the opportunity to show off his rock, raspy vocal. Well done Sir!

Tucked into their little box was the Little Shop Band. Well done to all, and a special congratulations to James Dawes for bringing to life this cult musical in a ‘Strange and Interesting’ venue.

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