I have seen a LOT of productions of Little Shop of Horrors. The 2003 Broadway revival with Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler and an underused Douglas Sills; the subsequent tour with the lovely Jonathan Rayson as Seymour; Ten Thousand Things' dark, innovative (as always) and unsettling production with Jim Lichtscheidl; and various high school and community theater productions. There's also a soft place in my heart for the movie, because I saw it in the theater in 1986--and, of course, Ellen Greene! And of course, the original film (although A Bucket of Blood is a much better Corman, IMHO.)
This is all to say that I know the show backwards and forwards and I'm a tough audience. But I'm SO GLAD that I read the rave review of 7th House Theater Collective's recent production in City Pages. I tend to seldom read reviews before seeing shows, but something about Ed Huyck's review (possibly the part that said: "I want to see it again. No, I want to see it 10 times.") compelled me to buy tickets for the last performance on Sunday night.
Even though the show is indelibly etched in my brain already, it was like seeing the show for the first time. With a super minimalist staging (a laboratory framing device that didn't 100% work for me), musically quite bare bones, and in the intimate Open Eye Figure Theatre space, this production was outstanding. (Check out 7th House's Facebook page for lots of great production photos.)
Can I just tell you about Grant Sorenson as Seymour? We've seen him before, as a predatory young man in Spring Awakening, and recently reading the stage directions in one of Theater Latte Da's Next Musicals, and probably in countless other shows. But MAN. This young man is a star. I predict it--and I'm seldom wrong. It's lovely to see young performers with amazing talent because you know they have so many fabulous roles and performances ahead of them. He has a somewhat dark look--I think of him as being a great fit for the Emcee role in Cabaret without much work at all--but as soon as he put the glasses on, he WAS Seymour.
And I loved that although he was shabby and poor, he wasn't stupid or pathetic, as Seymour can often be portrayed. His slight physique worked perfectly for the character, and the intelligence in his character played off well against Maeve Moynihan's portrayal of Audrey as genuinely a bit dim, but sweet--also a tough portrayal to get right. Sorenson sang the heck of out this role, and after "Somewhere That's Green", when he kissed Audrey? DANG. Seymour never gets to seem like he could actually get and keep the girl. This Seymour did, and dare I say it? He's a bit of a sexy Seymour. More raving: Sorenson has amazing physicality, terrific diction and timing (so great to hear all the hilarious Ashman & Menken lines landing so perfectly--i.e., the line with the Petunia/junior line in "Mushnik & Son," which he delivered with the perfect amount of knowing irony), and he does marvelous comedic work with his face alone--though he uses everything else as well.
Every member of the ensemble was wonderful. The timing was perfect--the whole show was so TIGHT. Amazing that it was directed by the ensemble themselves. And the singing! Beautifully sung, but not oversung. I loved that the singing didn't overwhelm the storytelling. For example, Moynihan's "Suddenly Seymour" was a revelation. Hardly anyone can sing it as Ellen Greene did--though many people try--but Moynihan made it her own.
The girl group/scientists of Gracie Kay Anderson, Liz Hawkinson and Cat Noble sang beautifully together, had plenty of sass (without being annoying), and held together the action beautifully, whether portraying Mushnik or Audrey II. They were all marvelous but I especially enjoyed Gracie Kay Anderson's performance--she has a marvelously animated face and wonderful comic timing, in addition to a great voice.
Robert Frost as the accompanist and occasional ensemble member did beautifully at leaping in and out of the action. And what can you say about David Darrow? He's wonderful in everything I see him in, and I loved that as part of the ensemble, we saw him much more than if he just played the dentist.
For such a bare bones production, there are so many elements that will stay with me. "Mushnik & Son", with all of the ensemble taking turns playing Mushnik, which leads to a much more engaging (and dancey!) staging. The beakers of blood thrown against the clear curtain when Audrey II starts killing. The cardboard box that represents Audrey II, which amazingly works, especially at the very end, and the ensemble all playing Audrey II, which was beautifully depicted.
And did I mention tight? Stopwatch-like timing, and under two hours with intermission. After sitting through way too many bloated, draggy shows, this was a bit of heaven.
In short, it was an exciting, inventive production of a show I've seen too many times to count. Though I'd seen some of the performers before, this was my the first production I've seen by 7th House Theater. If this is the kind of work they're doing, it definitely won't be my last.
Total random P.S.: Did you know there was a Little Shop of Horrors game? What?
