It’s a riot with Audrey 2
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre until August 9 wig, and sudden and charming little girl pathos in the wistful Somewhere that’s Green.
Part of the trademark quirkiness of Little Shop is the iconic doo-wop girl group who flooze in, in a flurry of sequins, to comment on the action, then metamorphose into a trio of sassy street girls down and out on Skid Row, the neighbourhood everyone longs to leave.
Here, tough-as-nails Mr Mushnik, a rotund, fast-talking Michael Richard, who’s not above some Fiddler on the Roof dance steps, is trying to make a living selling flowers – not exactly what the clientele requires – until Seymour adds the mysterious flower, Audrey 2, to the mix.
Word of the bizarre plant spreads; soon Seymour is famous, Mushnik is rich and Audrey 2 is growing… but only Seymour knows the secret.
Enter sadistic Orin the dentist (Zak Hendrikz, in a delightfully camp performance) who deals in pain, and the boyfriend who deals in blows – both unacceptable, especially when Audrey 2 adds her (his?) demanding voice to the chorus. As Seymour succumbs to temptation – Committie times it perfectly – and Audrey discovers her heart in the showstopper Suddenly Seymour, the eerie lighting and doom-laden music tells us that the end is nigh – but for whom… Seymour, Audrey, or simply the human race? A versatile and appropriately tacky set opens up the scene effectively and, of course, allows plenty of room for the rapidly expanding and sickeningly awful redspotted Audrey 2 – always avoid plants with red spots, I was told, and it’s good advice.
In fact, if anyone offers you anything green and snappy, give it a miss; unless, of course, it’s part of this macabre and – yes, I know, it sounds wrong, but it’s true – hilarious show with its slick staging and powerhouse musical numbers.
Keep Audrey 2 safely on the stage and you’ll have a riot of a time.
● Little Shop of Horrors is presented by Pieter Toerien and KickstArt and directed by Steven Stead.