Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman.
Music by Alan Menken.
Directed by Dean Bryant.
Choreographed by Andrew Hallsworth.
Musical Direction by Andrew Worboys.
Presented by Luckiest Productions and Tinderbox Productions.
Canberra Theatre Centre until 29th May 2016.
Reviewed by Bill Stephens.
A production design that looked dwarfed in the Canberra
Theatre, together with a sound design which rendered most of the lyrics
unintelligible combined to take the gloss off the highly anticipated opening
night performance of the Canberra Season of “Little Shop of Horrors”.
Set in 1960’s, “Little Shop of Horrors” satirises B grade
schlock-horror movies as it tells the story of down-trodden shop assistant,
Seymour (Brent Hill) who’s in love with his colleague, the mysterious Audrey (remarkably
portrayed by Esther Hannaford, as a timid, whippet-thin,
jumping-at-her-own-shadow creature). They both work in Mr. Mushnik’s (Tyler
Coppin) failing flower shop on Skid Row. Seymour is given a strange plant,
which he soon discovers has a taste for blood. The plant flourishes as Seymour
feeds it with his own blood. So does Mr Mushnik’s flower shop as word of the plant
spreads. However, as the plant’s appetite become more and more voracious,
Seymour has trouble keeping up the supply of blood, and is forced to make some
bizarre decisions.
Dean Bryant’s witty production commences with a flickering
black and white television news broadcast narrated by Lee Lin Chin. The lights
come up to reveal the same black and white, film noir world, in which all the
characters are costumed in variations of black and white. Brilliant colour is
added for the second half of the show reflecting the change in the character’s
fortunes.
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| Esther Hannaford (Audrey) Brent Hill (Seymour) |
Alan Menken’s catchy
score for the show is written in the style of 1969’s rock ‘n roll, doo wop and early
mow town, and the lyrics, especially those sung by the tightly choreographed
trio, (Josie Lane, Chloe Lane and Angelique Cassimatis) propel the story.
Unfortunately on opening night, not only could these lyrics
not be understood, but the voices of the trio and other cast members often
sounded harsh, and were frequently overwhelmed by the muddy sound coming from the
band. This proved particularly distracting during Esther Hannaford’s singing of
the hit song “Somewhere That’s Green”.
Brent Hill’s clever out-of-kilter set was designed for the
tiny Hayes Theatre. Even though some modifications appear to have been made to
expand it for larger theatres, all the action still takes place in the tiny
shop, giving the production an unfortunate cramped appearance. There were also
sight-line issues whenever the characters moved up-stage.
Even Audrey 11, the flesh-eating plant was less impressive
than expected, contained as it was, in the tiny acting area. As well, the idea
of having Seymour also provide the voice for the plant proved confusing,
especially in Seymour’s confrontation scene with Mr. Mushnik.
Hopefully the sound issues will be sorted out by the time
you read this review, because there is much to enjoy in this production; and
perhaps Luckiest Productions may need to reflect on the effects caused to the
integrity of their productions by presenting them in theatres that are simply too
large; because on opening night this
production of “Little Shop of Horrors” certainly did not live up to the
promises of its pre-publicity.
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| Esther Hannaford (Audrey) Brent Hill (Seymour) |
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 27th May 2016.
