Look out, here comes Audrey Two. Look out, here I come for you.
Ominous words, summing up events witnessed in Brownhills Musical Theatre Company’s offering of Little Shop of Horrors. With music from Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, this 1982 musical is loosely based on the 1962 film of the same name.
Seymour Krelborn works in a failing flower shop for the cranky Mushnik while harbouring feelings for fellow assistant, Audrey. When Seymour discovers a strange and interesting plant, he puts it in the shop window which attracts customers, boosting sales in the shop. However, this alien plant feeds on blood, leading to Seymour supplying it with humans to protect his secret. Having only ever seen the 1986 musical film adaption, I was surprised about the different conclusion which I won’t spoil here but let’s say with the scenario just described, it’s never going to end well.
Little Shop caters for a smaller cast than most shows with less opportunity for chorus, but Brownhills used these well when used. The set was impressive, giving the feel of the shop but the most spectacular was the Audrey Two models themselves with several to show the progression of growth.
Present throughout are the street urchins: Hattie Parry (Crystal), Sarah Taylor (Chiffon) and Charlottle Trigg (Ronnette) who were amazing. They supplied a running soundtrack which allowed scenes to flow. Also on stage for the duration was a wino (Brian Washington) who spent much of the time slumped in the rubbish but then used for good comic foil.
In the role of Seymour, we had Brett Dewsbury who showed a fine voice and good characterisation during Grow for Me before teaming superbly with Charlotte Foulkes (Audrey) in Suddenly Seymour. Foulkes was also excellent in Somewhere That’s Green, a lovely number and my favourite of the night.
Another brilliant song was the team-up of Dewsbury’s Seymour with Peter Brown (Mushnik) for Mushnik and Son. Brown captured the florist’s character perfectly as did Chris Parry with Orin Scrivello, particularly during Be a Dentist. Orin’s death scene was hysterical, inducing infectious laughing from the audience while the ill-fated dentist dies from inhaling nitrous oxide. But I can’t heap praise without Audrey Two itself. It must be surreal to be in a production as vocals only, but Katie Gibson gave stunning deliveries as the monster plant’s voice. But if I’m mentioning the audibles of Audrey Two, I can’t leave out Lauren Knowles’ skills as its puppeteer. This was a sharp professional production directed by Kelly Tye and Richard Tye with Alex Priestley overseeing a sympathetic orchestra as Musical Director.
In a time of recession and financial hardship, it was still nice to see a near full auditorium which gave their appreciation with a standing ovation at the end of the show. Brownhills’ next offering is A Chorus Line, February 17 & 18 next year at the same venue. If it’s as good as Little Shop of Horrors, it will be well worth seeing.
Cheers.
Antony N Britt
- Some photos blatantly stolen from BMTC’s Facebook Page.
Antony N Britt - Author 