The Little Shop Of Horrors
About the Production
Back in 1960, director Roger Corman, ‘king’ of the low-budget movie, made a horror comedy film called ‘The Passionate People Eater’ on practically no budget, in very little time, using sets left over from a previous movie. Released in that same October under the new title of ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’, it slowly gained a cult following, and over twenty years later, in 1982, a musical version (with some significant changes to the story) opened off-off-Broadway, written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. It was successful enough to merit a transfer to the off-Broadway Orpheum Theatre in Manhattan’s East Village, and there it ran for five years, winning numerous awards and becoming the highest-grossing production in off-Broadway history. A transfer to Broadway was proposed, but writer Ashman declined, saying it belonged where it was. In much the same way that Mel Brooks’ ‘The Producers’ was first a film, then a stage musical, followed by film of the stage musical, so to did a film version of ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’ emerge, in 1986. Starring Rick Moranis as Seymour, this was anything but low-budget, costing US$25 million, with cameos from Steve Martin, Jim Belushi, Bill Murray and John Candy, and the voice of Audrey II being provided by Levi Stubbs, lead singer with 1960s and 70s Motown group, The Four Tops.
Theatre Workshop Coulsdon don’t have US$25 million to throw around, but we do have people with creative skills, buckets of talent, and lots of enthusiasm. We’ll not disappoint.
So, what’s it all about?
Well, down on Skid Row, in the crummy part of town, grumpy store-owner Mushnik runs a seedy, run-down florist’s, with two assistants, Seymour and Audrey. Seymour, orphaned and poor, with only the little money he gets from Mushnik, is secretly in love with pretty, blonde Audrey. However, not only does he lack the confidence to share his feelings, but she’s already got a boyfriend, the arrogant and sadistic Orin Scrivello, a leather-clad, motorcycle-riding dentist. One day, after a sudden eclipse, Seymour discovers a mysterious plant, looking a bit like a Venus Fly-Trap, which he names Audrey II. He tends it carefully, but despite his best ministrations, the plant is clearly ailing. Then, while working with some roses, Seymour pricks his finger on a thorn, and Audrey II eagerly laps up the drops of blood. This is what the mysterious plant thrives on…
Complete with four piece band, TWC’s ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’ gives you eighteen singalong numbers as the story charts the misadventures of Seymour, Audrey, and Mushnik and the murderous growth of Audrey II. It’s blooming marvellous!
The Cast
Behind the Scenes
Image Gallery
The Reviews
Simple story that is somehow... well, er all-consuming
I find this musical morality story extremely satisfying. I don’t know why exactly, but it has a charming simplicity that, like Audrey II, is all-consuming. It consists of a florist’s shop on Skid Row run by an unsuccessful Jewish entrepreneur, assisted by a male orphan Annie and a voice-a-like Judy Holliday, who goes out with a bike-riding, pain-inflicting dentist, who beats her up regularly. Where does Audrey II fit in? She is an alien plant that grows ever bigger on an exclusive diet of human body parts.
Theatre Workshop Coulsdon made a competent and well-rehearsed attempt even if they did give it a happy ending.
Neat chorus singing from Crystal, Ronnette, Chiffon, Ruby, Sapphire and Diamond, played by Kimberley Argles, Heidi Bush, Lisa Lloyd, Natalie Ring, Tanya Allison and Tina Poole, advanced the plot and helped with the atmosphere. The orphan Seymour, discoverer of the plant, was trustingly played by Matthew Marsh, who exhibited clearly his feelings for Audrey of the affected tonsils, whose deft comic touch and appealing looks were well-illustrated by Claire Andreadis. Neil Grew as Orin the dentist displayed a mastery of sado-masochism before succumbing to an overdose of nitrous oxide. Feeding him to the plant caused an enormous increase in its size, but then dentists are always filling. Tim Young, as Mushnik the florist, played him as if he had been barmitzvahed at birth and when fed to the plant by Seymour, one was sorry to see him go.
The book and lyrics by Howard Ashman are neat and nimble, and the music by Alan Menken is foot-tapping. The directors, Jonathan Wales and Daniel Ireson, demonstrated that they knew what this piece was about, and Mark Taylor on the keyboards commanded his small ensemble with assurance.
The smaller Audreys were made by Sheila Bird and the last and greatest was made by Mike Brown. The gasp of amazement from the audience when it was revealed must have been gratifying indeed. Audrey II spoke and sang with the magnetic voice of Nigel Sorensen.
Peter Steptoe for The Croydon Advertiser
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