Thoughts on Little Shop of Horrors
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win lottery tickets for Little Shop of Horrors at Westside Theatre…and it didn’t disappoint! This was actually the first time I’ve seen the show, although I knew the entire plot and song list beforehand. First of all, the Urchins were phenomenal and brought vibrant life to the narration with their flawless harmonies and thoughtful acting choices. Christian Borle as “Orin & Others” made me cackle on multiple occasions, and Conrad Ricamora’s Seymour was tragically phenomenal. Tom Alan Robbins’ portrayal of Mushnik transcended the easy trap of the character being one-dimensional. Before he was chomped to bits, I truly wanted him to live rather than be a casualty of love. One of the stand-out roles that night, however, was Joy Woods in the role of Audrey. In the playbill, it says she usually plays Chiffon and understudies Ronnette, but she executed the role of Audrey that night like she was born to play it. Her vocals were spot on and her acting brought me into the world of the show immediately.
The scenery and puppetry were top notch, mixing clever campy choices with impressive stage effects. I was tremendously impressed by the actors inside the Audrey II costume – there were so many moving parts to the plant that I spent most of the intermission contemplating how much practice it must have taken for Eric Wright, Teddy Yudain, and Evan Alexander Smith to masterfully bring the plant to life. One thing that I liked best about the show was how intimate of a setting it took place in. Since it was in such a small space, the actors took the liberty to bring the audience in on the show on multiple occasions.
As always, I’m a sucker for subliminal commentaries about corporate greed, which leads to Audrey II’s plan of world domination being fulfilled. Although the show was an ultimately feel-good classic, it definitely emphasized the lesson that money can make us do the unthinkable. I left the show feeling so grateful I got to experience it and made me want to audition for every production of the show I could find!
