Reviewed by: Grace Dwyer
About three months ago, I properly listened to Little Shop of Horrors for the first time – the iconic 1980s musical that spawned a film adaptation, extremely successful runs on and off-Broadway, and turned authors Alan Menken and Howard Ashman into Disney royalty. So, having consumed every cast recording and bootleg I could find, I jumped at the opportunity to review International House’s 2024 production in our very own Guild Theatre.
The musical tells the story of downtrodden florist worker Seymour Krelborn – desperate to escape seedy Skid Row with his co-worker crush, Audrey. As an unexpected encounter with a strange and interesting plant (christened Audrey II) starts bringing Seymour fame and fortune, he begins to cave to the plant’s bloodthirsty demands.
This is a deceptively easy show to produce and perform. The cast is small (needing a minimum of eight), the songs, inspired by 1960s doo-wop, are catchy and fun, and the set can basically stay the same throughout the majority of the show. However, the vocal and acting chops required of each and every actor are demanding (especially for a student production), the lighting and set designers are tasked with innovating new ways to light and dress the same space for the entire show’s runtime, and I haven’t even properly addressed the giant man-eating plant that requires multiple puppeteers. The fact that IH ticked all these boxes should be applauded – and the extent to which they pulled it off deserves a standing ovation.
The Guild is the perfect venue for a smaller show like Little Shop – and I noticed a few resemblances to the similarly staged production running on Off-Broadway at the time of writing, particularly in Callum Schultz’s set design, Catherine Bhangu’s costumes, and director Simone Lau’s use of double casting. This is not to say IH’s production copies and pastes – rather, it’s clear the creative team had a deep appreciation for Little Shop and used the recent revival as a source of inspiration. The team definitely made the show their own. My personal favourite touches were the urchins’ stunning costume change, Ronette’s double denim outfit, Schultz’s deconstructed set (especially the exposed back curtain, bathed in coloured
light) and everything about Audrey II – from voice actor Sunday Alshami’s comedic but powerful characterisation with an amazing voice, to the plant’s effective mouth-trapdoor mechanism, with four different iterations puppeteered by Emily Hu, Simone Lau and Bryan Ang, who properly brought Audrey II to life.
In terms of human characters, the cast worked fantastically together. The three street urchins – Chiffon (Shuhan Zeng), Ronnette (Annabel Mullett) and Crystal (Amelia Lau) – act as our narrators and scene-setters. The three killed the urchins’ harmonies and tight choreography, with each performer getting their own chance to shine in a multitude of songs. More importantly, they brought the dynamic energy needed for a show as fast-paced and fun as Little Shop. For such a good trio, I wish they had been a bit more present as back-up singers – their absence was particularly felt in ‘Feed Me’ and ‘Suppertime’, where the backing track stepped in.
Amelia Lau deserves extra acknowledgement for stepping into the roles of lighting designer, producer, assistant director all while playing Crystal – a truly mind-boggling amount of effort that definitely paid off. Her lighting design, expertly operated by Hannah Ogawa, made good use of colour and intensity throughout musical numbers and scene transitions – my personal favourites being the electric green wash backdrop on ‘Feed Me’ and the dynamic change from coloured top lights in ‘Skid Row (Downtown)’ to a dramatic spotlight on Seymour’s entrance.
Matt Ho’s Seymour was a new take on a stereotypical character – giving him some cheekiness and adorably naïve bravado, with the vocal chops to match. His banter with employer Mushnik (played perfectly by Ryan Luo with zaniness and paranoia, nailing the accent) especially in ‘Mushnik and Son’ was an unexpected favourite moment – both Luo and Ho were obviously enjoying themselves while executing Shayna Fleiser and Bryan Ang’s choreography. These more comedic elements of Ho’s characterisation – the highlight of which was his ability to spectacularly prat fall, often while puppeteering Audrey II – were
balanced out by his wholesome chemistry with Audrey (Maisie Sullivan-Kent) perfectly portraying their budding relationship. One tragic scene was so tender that an audience member in the front row was moved to say ‘Poor Seymour’, and I cannot blame them.
Sullivan-Kent’s Audrey – the sweet, cheerful girl who can’t catch a break from her sadistic boyfriend – emphasised the character’s gentle, charming personality, rather than relying on caricature. The slower, character-driven songs are never really my favourite part of any musical, but Sullivan-Kent’s performance of ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ changed my mind and confirmed her star power – I hope to hear her voice in many future productions.
Conversely, Tadgh Knight’s portrayal of Audrey’s dentist boyfriend, Orin, was one of the more unhinged takes on any character I’ve seen in a while. In his introductory number, ‘Dentist!’, Knight took every chance to display Orin’s messed-up affinity for torturing his patients, and his dedication to the bit resulted in horrified giggles from the audience. His acting ability did not stop there – remarkably, Knight also played most of the ensemble roles, each with their own unique quirks and stage presence.
The entire cast – as well as sound designer and musical director Benjamin Lee – deserve kudos for working so well with backing tracks. Minor syncing issues may have caused a few pauses or puppeteering slips, but this did not deter any performer from giving it their all.
Furthermore, for the majority of the show, I was taken aback with how precise and spot on timing was – especially in the more ensemble/dance heavy numbers like ‘Ya Never Know’. By far the most enjoyable element of IH’s production was being able to see the cast and crew having fun. Little Shop can be, in my opinion, a very funny show, given the right direction and performers – which IH certainly had. Mishaps like Knight’s hat falling off in his ‘Meek Shall Inherit’ quick change only made the show funnier, and cast members rolled with the punches to a hilarious degree. In my minor theatrical experience, a show like this requires months of work and planning, as well as a crazy amount of dedication – looking at the program, I could see many cast and crew members doubling or tripling their production roles.
By the time Audrey II took centre stage for bows, cast and crew dancing to celebrate their closing show, I knew I had seen something special. To take on such a well-known and beloved show, bring it to life and make it your own is extremely impressive. The entire IH team all deserve their flowers (but not the man-eating plants, please).
Little Shop of Horrors ran September 6th – 7th 2024 at the Guild Theatre.
The Dialog is supported by Union House Theatre.
The Dialog 