Review by Tony Annicone
Welcome back to 1960’s Providence and Trinity Rep’s current musical production of their 54th season which is “Little Shop of Horrors.” This 1986 musical is based on the 1960 Roger Corman film. It is a tongue in cheek musical comedy that will make you think twice about buying that potted plant and is one of the longest running off-Broadway shows. This musical version is by Harold Ashman and Alan Menken who also wrote Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin.” Meek flower shop assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new breed of plant he names “Audrey II” after his coworker crush. This foul-mouthed R&B singing carnivore promises unending fame and fortune to the down and out Krelborn as long as he keeps feeding it blood! Over time though Seymour discovers Audrey II’s out of this world origins and dastardly intent on world domination. We find out the plant has a hidden agenda in this boy meets girl, plant eats world campy musical comedy set in the 1960’s. Director Tyler Dobrowsky, musical director Esther Zabinski and choreographer yon Tande lead this marvelously talented cast as they act, sing and dance their way into the hearts of a very appreciative audience on a fun-filled journey to Skid Row in Providence.
Dobrowsky directs and blocks this show splendidly from start to finish on his two story set and entire theatre. He picks the best performers to fit each of these roles and incorporates unique touches including a female voice of the plant and seductive actress dressing up like Poison Ivy from Batman to play it. Also included are extra cast members to play different roles. Esther leads her five piece orchestra while playing lead keyboards with many varieties of songs including a calypso song, rock and roll songs, doo-wop, early Motown, an Elvis type number and a tango. The final touches to this show are the dance steps Tande supplies to the Urchins who do many Supremes type dances, and an hilarious tango between Seymour and Mushnick. The fantastic set is by Sara Brown while the multitude of costumes are by Andrew Jean. The puppets are provided by Monkey Boys Productions and the Plant operator is Ted Chylack who does an astounding job.
Jude Sandy is fabulous and hilarious as the nerdy Seymour. His sympathetic klutz wins the audience over at the start of the show and keeps you entertained all night long. The audience roots for him to win the girl of his dreams and to hopefully control this overbearing monster of a plant he created. Sandy displays his strong character voice in all his numbers especially impressive is his duet with Audrey, “Suddenly Seymour” which tugs on your heart strings as well as in “Grow for Me” and it really soars in “Feed Me” and in “Meek Shall Inherit.” He also displays strong comic acting chops in this role and is very lovable as Seymour. Rebecca Gibel does an excellent job as the ultra sexy, ditsy dumb blonde, Audrey with an incredible singing voice. She is a gorgeous gal with a powerful voice which she uses to perfection in “Suddenly Seymour” duet with Jude as well as in the wistful and beautiful ballad “Somewhere That’s Green.” This is where she wishes to escape Skid Row into an ideal sitcom setting of a house and a white picket fence. The back of the trash bin when turned around becomes this dream house and her dreams come true till the end of the number. Also there is a comic homage to Marilyn Monroe later in the show of the subway grate and her dress billowing in the breeze. Gibel is stunning in this role. She and Jude have excellent chemistry together as I have witnessed before when they played Ado Annie and Will Parker in “Oklahoma” and Othello and Desdemona in “Othello.”The three urchin girls are fabulously played by Carla Martinez, Elexis Morton and Kedren Spencer. They are like a Greek chorus set in Providence, who come in and out of many scenes to comment on what is happening. They all have powerhouse voices that will mesmerize you with their perfect three part harmony in ”Little Shop”, “Ya Never Know” and ”The Meek Shall Inherit” as well as stop the show with their strong acting and dancing prowess, too. Another powerful voice is Rachael Warren who stops the show as The Plant with “Feed Me” and in “Suppertime” with her sexy dance moves and vocal prowess while the splendid puppeteer Ted Chylack works his magic with the plant. The continual growth of the plant is amazing and has to be seen to be believed.
Stephen Berenson plays Mushnick, the flower shop owner. He mistreats Seymour until he realizes the value of the exotic plant and decides to adopt him as a son. Berenson displays his voice in “Mushnick and Son”, the tango duet with Jude. His standout moment occurs when he imitates Tevye from “Fiddler on the Roof” which leads to much laughter. Also comical are the melodramatic moves when the blood spots, dentist outfit and Seymour’s hat are found in the second act. One of the biggest scene stealers in a show of scene stealers is Stephen Thorne who not only plays Orin, the sadistic dentist but a one of the other characters including Berstein who wants to sign Seymour up for his own TV gardening show. His song “Be a Dentist” is an Elvis type of number complete with swiveling hips and pelvic thrusts with the three urchins as his backup singers. Thorne is hilarious and dynamic in this part. The laughing gas scene stopped the show with laughter. The other characters in “The Meek Shall Inherit” are Janice Duclos as Mrs. Luce, Taavon Gamble as Snip Snap and Timothy Crowe as Patrick Martin. Rounding out the cast are Olivia Miller, Emma Sheldon and EJ Spillberg. So for a brilliant and entertaining evening, be sure to catch the fun filled “Little Shop of Horrors” at Trinity Rep. Tell them Tony sent you and be sure to hurry up before Audrey II takes over the whole world. A mechanical glitch happened with a set piece but it didn’t hamper the brilliance of the cast and crew. For safety reasons the show was halted and continued perfectly after that. It reminded me of when I saw “Woman of the Year” in its pre-Broadway run in Boston in 1981 with Lauren Bacall when a computer glitch happened with the mechanism, too. However the old saying, the show must go on still holds true.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (11 April to 12 May)
Trinity Rep Company, 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI
1(401) 351-4242 or www.trinityrep.com
