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Something new in a cult classic
"Little Shop of Horrors' in Norristown
Steve Cohen
The hero of Little Shop of Horrors always thought of his plant as female. He named it Audrey II in honor of the girl he loved, Audrey. So why has it taken 49 years for a theater company to cast a woman as Audrey II?
The 1960 Roger Corman black comedy film used writer Charles B. Griffith as the voice of the plant, and when the film was turned into an off-Broadway musical in 1982, Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops was cast in that role. Black male performers have owned the part since then. But Eleventh Hour Theater Company and Theatre Horizon cast the female (and white) M. K. Hines in this part for the excellent production at the Centre Theater in Norristown.
(Aside: Why can't people agree on a common spelling for theater/theatre and center/centre?)
It's effectively creepy to see Seymour in a love/hate relationship that parallels and then supplants his love for the human girl Audrey. Credit the co-producers for introducing something new and intriguing to this venerable cult classic.
Ms Hines is heard throughout the show, and it's clear that she's not a man, but the audience doesn't see her until the curtain call. What's visible is a growing plant designed by puppeteer Aaron Cromie and operated by Craig Patrick O'Brien. They effectively execute what the show's creators described as "an anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado."
Seymour (nicely played by Steve Pacek) is the nerdy plant-lover who discovers that his pet craves human blood to grow and multiply. Corman's film satirized the film genre of aliens conquering the world, based on Cold War fears. Composer Alan Menken and librettist Howard Ashman overlaid this with an affectionate tribute to girl groups and Motown. The use of Stubbs is one example; another is the trio of young singers named after three of the most popular doo-wop groups: Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon. These three girls comment on the action throughout the show.
This production emphasizes their importance by using a modified thrust stage and having the girls circle around the periphery of the stage when they're not actually on it.
The rest of the fine cast includes Maggie Lakis as Audrey, Paul McElwee as Mushnik and Carl Clemons-Hopkins as the dentist. Megan Nicole O'Brien directs. Dan Kazemi leads the tiny band.
The 1960 Roger Corman black comedy film used writer Charles B. Griffith as the voice of the plant, and when the film was turned into an off-Broadway musical in 1982, Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops was cast in that role. Black male performers have owned the part since then. But Eleventh Hour Theater Company and Theatre Horizon cast the female (and white) M. K. Hines in this part for the excellent production at the Centre Theater in Norristown.
(Aside: Why can't people agree on a common spelling for theater/theatre and center/centre?)
It's effectively creepy to see Seymour in a love/hate relationship that parallels and then supplants his love for the human girl Audrey. Credit the co-producers for introducing something new and intriguing to this venerable cult classic.
Ms Hines is heard throughout the show, and it's clear that she's not a man, but the audience doesn't see her until the curtain call. What's visible is a growing plant designed by puppeteer Aaron Cromie and operated by Craig Patrick O'Brien. They effectively execute what the show's creators described as "an anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado."
Seymour (nicely played by Steve Pacek) is the nerdy plant-lover who discovers that his pet craves human blood to grow and multiply. Corman's film satirized the film genre of aliens conquering the world, based on Cold War fears. Composer Alan Menken and librettist Howard Ashman overlaid this with an affectionate tribute to girl groups and Motown. The use of Stubbs is one example; another is the trio of young singers named after three of the most popular doo-wop groups: Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon. These three girls comment on the action throughout the show.
This production emphasizes their importance by using a modified thrust stage and having the girls circle around the periphery of the stage when they're not actually on it.
The rest of the fine cast includes Maggie Lakis as Audrey, Paul McElwee as Mushnik and Carl Clemons-Hopkins as the dentist. Megan Nicole O'Brien directs. Dan Kazemi leads the tiny band.
What, When, Where
Little Shop of Horrors. Music by Alan Menken; libretto by Howard Ashman; directed by Megan Nicole O'Brien. 11th Hour Theater Company and Theatre Horizon production through October 4, 2009 at Centre Theater, 208 DeKalb St., Norristown, Pa. (610) 283-2230 or www.theatrehorizon.org.
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