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 Geeky, quirky, snappy, wacky.... and every other cookie adjective you can think of ... I mean it's crazy, who has ever heard of a man eating plant? Ridiculous! However, after two hours in the company of Audrey II I was ready to believe anything! Henley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (HAODS) have done it again with their production of Little Shop of Horrors. They have branched out into the exotic and potted up this horticultural horror of a show for us with their usual style and panache, and a clever, clever set and an atmosphere that left us in no doubt that we were in an alley in Skid Row in the late 50s.
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical which has enjoyed several re-pottings over the last fifty years. It began life as a low budget black comedy film in 1960, but composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman turned it into a musical in 1982 which continued to amaze and delight off-Broadway audiences for a staggering 2209 performances and was awarded the New York Critics Award for Best Musical. Little Shop Of Horrors then made history when the musical, based on a movie, was then shot as a movie itself starring Rick Moranis as Seymour, Ellen Greene, reprising her stage role as Audrey and Levi Stubbs, of the Four Tops as the voice of Audrey II.
The music is in the legendary style of the 60s with rock and roll, doo-wop and early Mowtown combining in irresistible toe-tapping numbers, including Downtown, Somewhere that's Green and Suddenly Seymour. Musical Director, Alan Lineham, says that he has sold his soul to rock and roll and that surely comes across in the terrific interpretation and discipline of this hot-showadi-wadi all-singing cast. The timings and musical cues were effortlessly accurate, demonstrating just how hard this small cast has worked. The musical backing is provided by a sizzling trio of on-stage, back-combed beauties, Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette, played respectively by Claire Wallis, Lucy Potter and Daisy O'Halloran, who also turn their hands to a little dentistry, bribery and composting.
Somewhat of a cautionary tale, the plot centres on hapless Seymour Krelborne, played with such accuracy by James Gwynne, that I really believe that he has to be that hopeless in real life. He is an assistant at Mushnik's Florist Shop on Skid Row, but times are hard, and desperate not to lose his job and be parted from his secret love, sales assistant Audrey, he tries to boost sales by nurturing a strange house plant that he has stumbled upon during a total eclipse of the sun. He names it Audrey II after his secret love and finds that it grows faster if it is fed with a few drops of blood, and subsequently human flesh.
Audrey is played by Sally Rowlands - who has to be the most vulnerable heroin in history - she was a delight to watch and listen to. In true Faustian style, Seymour continues to feed the man-eating vegetable in return for good luck and fortune, however, things rapidly get out of hand for Seymour as the monster plant and the business thrives, eventually devouring just about everything and anyone in sight.
Mushnik, played by Greg Stack, gave us a suitably despairing failing shop owner, and once again his timings were immaculate, although he did have a tendency to shout just a bit too loud and I lost one or two of the words, but hey, that may have been first night nerves and I am green fly-picking here!
One of my favourite parts of the show was the hilarious visit to Audrey's woman-bashing dentist boy-friend, sadomasochist Orin, who is hooked on laughing gas. Tim Harling as Orin had me holding my stomach as I laughed at him so much that it hurt - and promising myself I will go regularly to the dentist to avoid the need for any work! With his slick-back hair and Elvis-the-Pelvis-like rubber legs as he ODd on nitrous oxide, this was one cameo part to die for - literally! Another moment that was outstanding for me was the duet with Audrey and Seymour, Suddenly Seymour, with the voices of the two actors combining sensationally, sending shivers down my spine.
This is a small cast musical with just nine actors, but there were seventeen characters listed, eight of them being played by Ioan Havard, or Dani O'Harva, or Aaron Divah, or..... Just as well there were only eight as I think they may have run out of anagrams! Well done Ioan!
But we cannot miss out the star of this show... Audrey II herself. She is such a big operation that there have to be two people working in sync to bring her alive. In this case, the back-breaking job of operator was awarded to Richard Evans and the voice of Audrey II by a startlingly James Brown-like Mark Khutan, who gave us that wonderful, long anticipated Feed Me! These two worked really well together as I am sure that there was no way that they communicate with each other.
The Alan Titchmarsh of the show, director Lloyd White, has to be proud of his propagation as once again, HAODS has grown a sturdy example of fine theatre that will live in memory of the Kenton cloche for a long time. It is a shining example of theatre at its best. I apologise for the gardening analogies but I, like Seymour, just could not resist!
RS
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