Little Shop of Horrors (Broadway)

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1960’s. A trio of sea urchins takes us to a flower shop in an urban skid row where an orphan by the name of Seymour (Nicholas Christopher) has been making a living. Abandoned by his parents when he was young, he was taken in by the owner of the flower shop, Mr. Mushnik (Stephen DeRosa). Mr. Mushnik is strict and rather distant, not just to Seymour but also to his co-worker Audrey (Sherie Rene Scott) on whom he harbors a crush. Despite being friendly toward one another, Seymour and Audrey maintain a platonic relationship because she is currently seeing psychotic dentist Orin (Johnny Newcomb) who regularly subjects her to emotional and physical abuse. Just as Mr. Mushnik announces that he will be closing shop soon due to poor sales, meaning he is letting them go, Seymour introduces them to a strange plant hybrid he found not so long ago, which he discovers later on to be thirsty for human blood and flesh.

This is one of those musicals that I always heard about but never bothered to try to discover. I just know that there is a weird Venus Flytrap involved and a lot of singing. The funny thing is, there was a local production in Manila just a few months ago, but since it is also currently running Off-Broadway, I decided to just include it in Broadway Barrage this year despite the comparatively more expensive cost of tickets. In the end, it was a good decision because I ended up enjoying the show. I am all for absurdity and Little Shop of Horrors offers a lot of that, along with a Doo-wop/Motown inspired soundtrack that just slaps.

The roles of Seymour and Audrey seem to be in constant rotation. Just before Christopher, Seymour has been played by Andrew Barth Feldman and Darren Criss, while Audrey has been portrayed by Constance Wu and Jinkx Monsoon. I wouldn’t call it stunt casting like what Chicago usually does, with Alyssa Milano as Roxie Hart as of present, for instance. This appears normal for this particular staging of the show, like some sort of limited short-time gig for whoever wants to take on the role before moving on to another. In a way, this is an effective casting strategy and does help in getting more butts on those seats, with a little star power.

The Westside Theater is really small, stage and all, but seems perfect for Little Shop of Horrors because what you get is an intimate set. Most of the platform is occupied by the interior of the flower shop and most of the space inside is occupied, little by little until fully, by Audrey 2. The narrow strip left in front of the stage is where most of the song and dance numbers happen, so they are easily visible and audible even if you buy a ticket right at the back of the theater. There is nothing much to see in terms of costumes. The real scene stealer here is definitely that carnivorous plant and the puppeteers involved.

Ah, yes. Puppetry. Aside from being murderous, the plant also talks and sings, which amps up the absurdity factor a few notches. In her final evolutionary form, Audrey 2 is almost as big as the entire flower shop itself, and members of the cast can actually fit comfortably inside its mouth. While they could have used some other material that could’ve made this monster more plant-like, similar to those used in Hollywood, what we get in the end is convincing enough, even though I find it a bit too smooth and lacking a bit of gore, which might be hard to pull off onstage anyway.

Overall, I enjoyed Little Shop of Horrors. I can’t reiterate that enough. The singing and the dancing are entertaining. The humor is not contrived and fits well given the circumstances, sometimes going overboard but still not out of place because the premise is already absurd enough to begin with. The acting is just the right kind of campy without trying too hard. I hope this show gets to run in NYC for a long time, if only for everyone to get to experience how quirky and fun it is.