LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS – Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman; Music by Alan Menken; Directed by Chris Coleman; Musical Direction by Angela Steiner; Choreography by Rickey Tripp. Produced by the Denver Center Theatre Company (13th and Curtis, Denver) through May 25. Tickets available at 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org
I was surprised to see LITTLE SHOP on the Denver Center’s season announcement this year. Why would they want to mount this old warhorse when there are so many new musicals that haven’t been brought to Denver audiences yet? But then I got to thinking about what a risk this was for the Center. Would they find that many people that hadn’t seen the show before (even multiple times) or had seen it but loved it so much they could sell over 24,000 tickets? Well, guess what folks – they have already added another week of performances “due to popular demand.” Not as much as a risk as you’d think.
And, of course, they knocked it out of the ballpark! A flower shop that had removable walls and rotated back and forth, a dentist office that comes up out of the floor, a five-piece band under the stage providing the Motown beats, and, again of course, the biggest badest Audrey II you’ve ever seen. Plus, determined by the raucous laughter and surprised gasps when plants moved, an audience that had obviously NOT seen the show before.
Why would I spoil it for all those people who haven’t seen it yet by giving you the whole plot. Let’s just say it involves a nerdy boy, a sweet girl with low self-esteem, a girl group named after three girl groups, a masochistic dentist, a Jewish flower shopkeeper, and a blood-sucking plant. You can put those together in any combination you like – but the plant will always win in the end.
Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette set the tone with their street-corner expositional set-up in the first song. Played by Jaden Dominique, Elexis Morton, and Holly Jackson, they have moves straight off American Bandstand (choreographed by Rickey Tripp who is obviously still a teeny-bopper at heart). Seymour, the nerdy boy, is portrayed by Ben Fankhauser who has to work pretty hard to make himself look nerdy. He has had an amazing career for someone who doesn’t look over about 22. Gizel Jimenez brings us the always sweet – although bruised – Audrey I. Her rendition of longing for “Somewhere That’s Green” will break your heart. Will Branner executes the tyrannical demon dentist so authentically, it’s hard to believe his bio that unequivocally states that he is kind (yea, kind of a creep) and not (very) mean or (terribly) scary. Mr. Mushnik who operates his flower shop with his own set of needs is given lively life by David Studwell.
But, no matter how you slice it, this show belongs to Audrey II and her handlers. I spent part of the show trying to figure out how many people it took to operate the biggest of the four Audreys. After giving up trying to tell who was moving what, it became more fun to just watch. I kept thinking what an act of faith it must have been for the actors the first time they got eaten in rehearsal. Remember those scary little raptors in JURASSIC PARK? Well, this creature is like those menacing little buggers – only on steroids. This is a building-sized mechanism. Audrey II (Twoey, for short) has personality, humor, charm (when she wants something), and a noticable overbite. Hey, Audrey, I know a good dentist.
A little bit of trivia for those who like that kind of thing: An actor named Ron Taylor was the original voice of Audrey II. He next came to Denver and performed in the Denver Center’s premiere production of IT AIN’T NOTHING BUT THE BLUES which went on to Broadway earning five Tony nominations. Broadway lore tells the tale of the original production of LITTLE SHOP being produced at the small WPA Theatre. For a finale, presumably after the song “Don’t Feed the Plants,” pre-set vines dropped out of the ceiling to brush the heads of the audience as they stood for an ovation, throwing everyone into a panic. I’ve waited for years for some small theatre to pull that trick off again.
So whether you’ve seen the show a dozen times or not yet, this is a monumental production. You’ll either sing along in your seat or tap your toes to the music.
A WOW factor of 9!!