IF YOU have not seen it, Little Shop of Horrors is a musical with a bit of everything – dark comedy, bizarre scenarios, moral dilemmas and even some touching moments.
It is a roller-coaster of emotion and tone.
It centres on a failing flower shop when an unexpected opportunity, in the form of a mysterious plant, presents itself. With that, comes a growing appetite for fame, fortune and fresh blood, that just might change lives.
The first half sets the scene with catchy toe-tapping numbers and plenty of comedy. The second one takes on a more sinister turn, rises moral dilemmas and manages, somehow, to keep the comedy, albeit darker.
This was Theatre 282’s first musical and the talented cast did a sterling job telling the tale of this cult classic.
Everyone played their part in the production. Andy Partington was great as shop owner Mr Mushnik – both capturing the character and competent as he sang in the musical numbers he was involved in.
Talking of vocals, Martin Salter’s wonderful soulful voice was perfect for the plant ‘Audrey 2’ as it begged to be fed with its ‘feed me’ catchphrase.
Louis Wharton – who I thought was somewhat Joe Lycett-like – was fantastic as the evil dentist and Audrey’s abusive boyfriend Orin Scrivello. He delivered the ‘Dentist’ number excellently and was hilarious in Now (It’s Just the Gas). He also doubled as the suave but sleazy Skip Snip, offering Seymour fame and fortune.
The ever-present Emily Addis (Ronnette), Charlotte Hipkiss (Chiffon) and Annabelle Blower (Crystal) made for a terrific trio. From the opening ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ prologue, ‘Da Doo’ and ‘Ya Never Know’ to the finale, they were pitch-perfect throughout. They were great on the songs with just them in and provided equally wonderful backing vocals for the other numbers.
And Alex Thompson and Lydia Peters were a super pairing for the main roles of Seymour and Audrey – made to play those parts. He portrayed his lovable down-on-his-luck character magnificently and she, the love interest, were wonderful to watch – both individually and even moreso when they were together. Their harmonies were almost heavenly.
Their ‘Simply Seymour’ duet at the start of the second act had the real ‘aww’ factor as you had been willing them to ‘give it a go’ since the start. And during the moving ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ (reprise), there was complete silence – you could hear a pin drop.
Peters’ performance of ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ in the first act was the vocal performance of the night.
The set
The set was functional, providing the backdrop for all the scenes needed – the flower shop, the street on Skid Row and a dental surgery.
Impressive puppeteering
The Audrey 2 aspect – in all its stages of development was also very well done – shout-out to its operators – puppeteers Izzy Boneham, Charlotte Salter, Eleanor Hipkiss and Amy Cooper.
And kudos to Sam Fitter and her team for pulling this fantastic production together and staging it so well.
Blakedown Parish Rooms was also a nice intimate venue for this production, reflecting off the stage the cosy feel and atmosphere of the flower shop on it.
This show is lots of fun and deserves to ‘grow its audiences’ as it is well worth a watch (although you may not fancy a trip to the garden centre anytime soon if you do).
Tickets are £14 (£13 concessions) with the final performances at 7.30pm on Friday and Saturday, June 27 and 28.
Visit: www.theatre282.com for more and to buy tickets.
