Little Shop of Horrors

“FEED ME,” orders Audrey II, the plant from outer space with plans for world domination in the current Davis Musical Theater Company production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” the stage musical adaptation of the 1960 Roger Corman black comedy movie. For the stage show, Howard Ashman developed the script and Alan Menkin wrote the music. Steve Isaacson directed this production for DMTC.

The longer Audrey II goes without human blood, the more anemic and weak she becomes and so it becomes necessary for her mentor, Seymour Krelborn to find inventive ways to perk up the plant with a kind of transfusion.

It might have helped if Seymour did the same thing to the production. While it was, on the whole, enjoyable, there were some real anemic spots that begged for something to “feed it”!

On the good side, Joshua Smith, as Seymour, is wonderful. The perfect nerd, with horn-rimmed glasses, a baseball cap, a red plaid shirt, and a feeling of inferiority. He sings well, longs for the love of Audrey, the shop girl “with a past” (Lauren Miller), and he suffers the tortures of the damned trying to meet the escalating demands of his plant. (Though he should be careful when tossing “food” into the plant, and not let it roll around on the floor!)

The quasi Greek chorus, Ronnette (Caitlin Humphreys), Crystal (Casey Ellis) and Chiffon (Sarah Duvall) keep the plot moving, fill in background choruses and add local color. They are each and every one outstanding. Great voices, funny in a kind of subdued sort of way, and they really stand out in most of the scenes in which they appear.

I have enjoyed watching Lauren Miller grow into the kind of ditzy Judy Holliday-esque type of characters and handle them adroitly, so the role of Audrey seemed perfectly suited for her. Indeed, she has the walk, the voice, and the attitude down pat. What was lacking was projection and energy. This surprised me because I know she has both (and, in fact, her “Suddenly Seymour” was just great). Perhaps director Isaacson suggested she “sweeten” the tone for the character, or perhaps she was having throat problems. I don’t know. But Audrey needs to be over the top and Miller’s was not.

Darryl Strohl is the sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello, who not only enjoys tending to patients without the assistance of pain medications, but also likes to beat up on his girlfriend (Audrey) to “keep her in line.” He’s a motorcycle-riding, Elvis-impersonating character and Strohl was only intermittently spot-on. But when he was good, he was very good.

Strohl also plays a host of other characters, both male and female, and was quite good in all of them.

A big disappointment was Dustin White as Mr. Mushnik, the owner of the flower shop where the action takes place. For one thing, he both swallowed and rushed his lines so you were concentrating more on hearing him than watching him become the character. It seemed like he hadn’t quite found the character yet. He had the right body language and the proper accent, but it just didn’t come together.

A+++ for Scott Griffith and Mike McElroy, who brought Audrey II to life. McElroy (who also plays one of the “Skid Row Occupants”) was the plant’s voice and Griffith returned for the third time to manipulate its body parts.

Jean Henderson’s costumes are of course excellent, though I have problems with Audrey wandering around the streets of Skid Row at midnight wearing a pink babydoll pajama set and fuzzy pink slippers. However, the costumes for the chorus are great, especially the Marge Simpson style wigs and the glittery red evening gowns. Orin’s Elvis costume is perfect.

The DMTC 5-piece orchestra sounded particularly good for this production. Kudos to all of them.

There is nothing wrong with this production except that it felt a bit tired. Perhaps due to the heat. However, nobody attending it is going to come away disappointed. “Little Shop” is a fun story but, like Audrey II, it just needs a bit more blood from time to time.

Little Shop of Horrors

"Whatever you do, don't feed the plants," sings the cast.

Good advice that anyone will be sure to heed after seeing Davis Musical Theatre's latest production of "Little Shop of Horrors," opening last weekend at the Varsity Theatre.

With music by lyricist/librettist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken (whose more familiar credits include Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," and "Aladdin"), "Little Shop of Horror" is a musical adaptation of on the 1960's Roger Corman science fiction movie of the same name.

Directed and choreographed by Steve Isaacson (who also did light design), this is the story of a strange plant from outer space which finds its way into a skid row flowership, owned by the blustery Mr. Mushnik. The plant is nurtured by Seymour Krelborn, a nerdy shop clerk madly in love with the naive and somewhat ditzy shop girl, Audrey. In her honor, Seymour names his plant Audrey II.

Existence of the plant brings customers to Mushnik's shop and fame to Seymour, but it turns out that Audrey is no mere plant, but a blood-guzzling creature from outer space, weaving Seymour into a web of greed and deception which spirals out of control. The results are both hilarious and harrowing.

The show begins with a trio of high school drop-outs, who hang around Mushnik's shop and, acting as a kind of Greek chorus, narrate the story in song as the action progresses. The girls each get moments within their songs to shine. In particular, Marilou Ubaldo, as Crystal, a new addition to the Davis Musical Theatre, is terrific. The other girls, Kristi Tucker as Ronnette and Megan O'Laughlin are also excellent.

Costumer Jean Henderson has had great fun with the girls as the play progresses. At one point they all sport Marge Simpson-esque hair, and their red sparkly evening gowns at the conclusion of the show are terrific, particularly on Tucker.

Clocky McDowell is visually an excellent Seymour. He's clumsy and nerdy and moons wonderfully over Audrey. Unfortunately he was having some problems staying on pitch the evening I attended the show and two or three ensemble numbers had spots which were quite painful to listen to. There were also some articulation difficulties, especially when he was conversing with the plant, which required him to have his back to the audience. While microphones are not necessary in a house the size of the Varsity, having the plant amplified (the fabulous backstage voice of Brian McCann), while Seymour is not, created an imbalance.

Andrea Eve Thorpe totters around the stage on the spike heels of Audrey and is delightful to watch. She wears the mini-est of mini skirts, which she explains are her "good clothes." Her voice doesn't have the exaggerated accent of some Audreys, but her characterization works well. Audrey longs to leave skid row and live "somewhere that's green," but is trapped in an abusive relationship with the masochistic dentist, Orin Scrivello.

Troy Thomas proves himself a jack of all trades, listed in the program as playing no less than seven different roles (including Mrs. Luce), but it is his reprise of the dentist Scrivello where he shines. Thomas played the role in DMTC's 1996 production and his return for 2002 is a tribute to his comfort in the part. He gyrates around the stage, laughs maniacally while sniffing laughing gas, and becomes the man you love to hate. While we don't regret his ultimate fate, the depiction of it is quite gruesome and while funny, perhaps not for the squeamish.

Dan Shallock is making his DMTC debut as Mr. Mushnik and does a competent job as the gruff flower shop owner who rescued Seymour from a skid row orphanage and gave him a bed under the shop counter and allows him one Sunday off every two weeks.

The real star of the show, of course, is Audrey II. The plant, which increases in size with each scene, eventually takes over most of the stage. John Coyne deserves much praise for his ability not only to spend the entire second act inside the plant, but also to bring such personality to the huge puppet.

Kudos also to the construction crew of Audrey II: Doug Hicke, John Coyne, Kristin Gold, Audrey Green, Joe Green, Anna Johnson, Clocky McDowell, Megan O'Laughlin, Dan Schallock, Heather Sheridan, Troy Thomas and Ben Wormeli. The sheer number of people needed to bring Audrey II from the drawing board to the stage is a testament to the care lavished on this production.

The functional set designed by Ron Easley makes good use of the width of the Varsity stage, leaving space at the very edges for winos on one side and the drop outs on the other.

The members of the DMTC orchestra--Jonathan Rothman, Celeste Hammon, Ben Wormeli, Emma Fisher and Andy Sullivan do an excellent job of accompanying the cast

Little Shop of Horror is a fun night of theatre. There are a few rough spots, but nobody who attends this production will go away disappointed.

Stars: 3-1/2

Little Shop continues Friday, Saturday and Sunday through January 27. Friday and Saturday performances at 8:15 and Matinees Sundays at 2:15.

Little Shop of Horrors

If you find a strange plant which appears suddenly following a total eclipse of the sun, walk by and leave it alone. That seems to be the message of Director Peggy Shannon's sparkling new production of the high-spirited "Little Shop of Horrors," which opened Friday night on the main stage at UC Davis.

From the moment the "Do-Wop girls," high school drop outs who hang around Mushnik's flower shop "down on skid row" make their entrance, dancing in snappy precision, the audience knows it is in for a real treat. The girls are played by Antonia Carrillo McCabe, Georgia Boyd, and Linda Noveroske Rentner and act as a quasi Greek chorus, filling in the story between scenes. Each of the girls gets her own chance to shine in solo bits. Boyd in particular is a knockout when she gets "down and funky."

"Little Shop of Horrors, by lyricist/librettist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken (whose more familiar credits include Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," and "Aladdin"), is a musical adaptation of on the 1960's Roger Corman science fiction movie of the same name.

Its hero, Seymour Krelborn, is the timid employee of a failing skid row flower shop. Seymour was rescued from a skid row orphanage by the irrascible Mr. Mushnik (Adam Sartain), and has spent his life living in the flower shop, working for Mr. Mushnik, and hiding his love for the sweet, dippy shop girl, Audrey.

Seymour sees the chance to transform his life and win the heart of Audrey when the curious plant he has been nurturing flourishes under his care. The plant, which he names "Audrey II," is actually a talking creature from outer space and the only way to keep it alive is by feeding it human blood. When Seymour becomes anemic from Audrey II's nightly feedings, he is forced to find alternative sources of nourishment for the plant.

One could not find a better Seymour than Drew Hirshfield. The talented actor portrays the nerdy shop clerk perfectly, and with a rubbery body that would do justice to Ray Bolger, his physical comedy is marvelous.

Stephanie Gougé has captured the essence of the caricature of Audrey beautifully. Mincing around in high heels, with a generous décolletage, and a stiffly sprayed blonde hairdo, she embodies the essence of the naive shopgirl. Audrey yearns to leave skid row and live "somewhere that's green," dressed like Donna Reed and watching Lucy on "a giant 12" TV screen," but her lack of self esteem keeps her tied to a go-nowhere job with an abusive boyfriend. She is, after all, a "woman with a past" and unworthy of the love of someone as nice as Seymour.

Sniffing laughing gas and gyrating across the stage, Isaac Woofter as the sadistic leather-clad biker/dentist Orin Scrivello, is a real crowd pleaser. Woofter takes command whenever he appears, and he is the man you love to hate.

(Scrivello also plays two other minor characters. Notice should be given, as well, to Michael Yap, Jennifer Anson, Sam Tanng, and Hiroshi Osaza, who also play several minor charactes.)

Seymour gains the attention of the world when he begins to display Audrey II and when the plant begins to grow to monstrous size (special recognition needs to go to Bryan Martin and Jessie J. Eting, Jr. who give Audrey II life). Unfortunately, as it grows larger, Audrey II becomes more demanding and Seymour finds himself caught in a frenzy of greed and deception which spirals out of control. The results are both hilarious and harrowing.

At the end, the true mission of Audrey II is revealed and the audience is warned not to feed the plants.

There was no skimping on the set, the obvious recipient of much care and attention. Robert Frye has effectively created the look of a skid row neighborhood, with Mushnik's shop on a huge turntable which dominates the stage. (A particularly nice touch was a clock on the flower shop wall that actually changes time--an interesting challenge on a set which is always in view of the audience)

Music is under the direction of trumpet virtuoso Peter Nowlen, whose five piece band plays offstage, with projection of Nowlen himself on a screen under the light booth, to aid the singers to keep on beat.

Choreographer Sunny Smith has taken a group of mostly non-dancers and made believable dancers out of them. She has succeeded particularly well with the do-wop girls.

Clare Henkel's costumes are fun--from the drab, nondescript outfit of Seymour, to the provocative dresses of Audrey, to the glitz of the do-wop girls.

Shannon has created a tight, fast-paced production that never fails to delight. While there is no deep message here, "Little Shop of Horrors" is a fable of what can happen when you wish for it all, get it, and then have to deal with the consequences.