“Little Shop” is delightfully dark
Chadron State Theatre aims high and soars with “Little Shop of Horrors.” This production is visually, musically, and dramatically great and includes a healthy dose of black comedy.
“Little Shop” plays like the upbeat musical version of an Edgar Allan Poe story. Fans of “Repo! The Genetic Opera” will find similar ethical conflicts, but none of the gore here.
The show features a simple but serviceable set, live orchestration, and a three-part Greek chorus, played by Lauren Morris, sophomore of Centennial, Colo., Becci French, senior of Alliance, and Rian Mamula, junior of Box Elder, S.D. The ladies’ songs and dance frame the narrative, while they also serve as urchins for the other characters to grumble at and fawn over.
“Little Shop” centers on bumbling nobody Seymour Krelbourne, played by Derek Phelps, sophomore of Sidney. Phelps recalls all the nasal nerdiness of Rick Moranis, without being annoying.
Seymour is hopelessly in love with his co-worker Audrey, played by Ashley Rushman, senior of Gurley. It’s never clear whether Seymour loves Audrey for her magical blond unicorn-lady hair or her apparent penchant for handcuffs.
Rushman plays Audrey as a self-consciously wilting woman who knows better, but can’t help sticking with her boyfriend even if he gifts her the occasional shiner or calls her a stupid dame. Her boyfriend is none other than the motorcycle-riding dentist, straight out of “Grease.” The protean Willis Miller, senior of Deer Trail, Colo., plays the likably loathsome Orin Scravello, D.D.S.
Scravello’s tendency toward sadism recalls many painful childhood trips to the dentist and contrasts with Audrey II’s inhumanity.
In fact, Miller makes up the balance of the play’s extraneous characters, shifting seamlessly from old to young, businessman to bum. In one scene he even appears hilariously in drag. He’d have likely stolen the show given more stage time. However, the script keeps the action moving at a fairly rapid pace.
A musical merely about a lovesick underdog who can’t compete with his lady’s sadistic alpha-male boyfriend wouldn’t be very interesting.
“Little Shop” doesn’t let us down once the story dispenses with Seymour and Audrey’s conniving boss, the unctuous Mr. Mushnik, played by Zachary Henderson, sophomore of Douglas, Wyo. Henderson’s New Yorkesque accent is my favorite and his bearing recalls Jackie Gleason on “The Honeymooners.”
But Mushnik’s a nogoodnik and he must give way to the show’s true botanical genius—and I don’t mean George Washington Carver or even Seymour Krelbourne.
Audrey II is the diabolical flytrap with a taste for blood, and the real star of the show. Audrey II is voiced masterfully by James Steele, freshman of Lincoln, and brought to life by the untiring efforts of Michael Kruger, senior of Gordon, as puppeteer.
A particularly nice touch is the use of several different puppets to trace Audrey II’s growth from a small potted nuisance to a leviathan menace to society. The medium-sized puppet, which was more of a flytrap bodysuit, is the most life-like. The enormous puppet used toward the end was versatile enough to make the eating scenes believable, if not realistic.
While Audrey II’s unending cries of “feed me” are chilling, and Seymour’s increasingly immoral methods of getting its food disturbing, the show stays pretty light. The laughs keep coming, the actors are great, and the music fun.
“Little Shop of Horrors” is a delightfully dark, hilarious romp through foam rubber carnage.