Hidden away at the top of town in Halifax, is the Playhouse Theatre. A wonderfully intimate building, with some wonderful characteristics. Sitting 2 rows from the back, I was no more than 10 metres from the stage.
Little Shop Of Horrors needs no introduction to the world of theatre-goers, but, to summarise, a man, Mr. Mushnik, owns a flower shop on a rough estate in downtown New York, referred to as Skid Row. Struggling to make ends meet, he announced he is going to close the shop. His assistant brings a strange and interesting plant out from the back of the shop which instantly changes the course of their lives. The plant grows on a unique diet of fresh blood, and before long, becomes a national sensation, with the assistant, Seymour Krelborn, becoming more and more famous. A second assistant in the shop, Audrey, dates a semi-sadist dentist, Orin, who ends up killing himself in a laughing-gas misdemeanour, and well, go and see the show to find out more!
The show opens with 3 dazzling ‘Doo-Wop’ Girls, in fetching red sparkling dresses, who act like the narrators through out the show. They, Rosie Mountford, Beth Rowett and Claire Hoyland, open in beautiful harmony, much like our very own Andrews Sisters. We are introduced to Seymour, (Ronan Pilkington), Audrey, (Vicki Holmes) and Mr. Mushnik, (Matt Stirk - who isn’t actually listed in the programme centrefold!) and along with the rest of the cast, we are ushered through the first few numbers, with great energy, pace and excitement from the cast. Seymour then sings 'Grow For Me', and we are introduced properly to our lead, a fine casting choice as Pilkington is everything you’d expect from your Seymour. We are also introduced to Audrey, as she sings 'Somewhere That’s Green', with a lovely voice, performed with so much emotion and hope. Soon, the mood turns as our dentist appears, Orin, (Joe Hamilton), bullying the whole cast, then sings a rock and roll thriller, 'Dentist!'
The play goes on and we find ourselves back in the flower shop where Audrey II (James Sidgwick) is wanting another feed, when out of nowhere, it speaks! And from a couple of words, bursts into the song 'Feed Me!' A desperate plea for food, of an altogether quite gruesome kind...!
The second act opens up in full colour, with a bustling flower shop, being swamped by phone calls asking for flowers, and interview requests. Once the shop closes, Seymour woos Audrey, and they sing the wonderful duet 'Suddenly Seymour', accompanied by The Ronnettes, to rapturous applause. The show is drawing to a close now and Audrey II is about to take over the world, and as the show closes with plea from the whole cast they all sing 'Don’t Feed The Plants'.
Well this was a really enjoyable evening spent in a splendid little theatre. I love this show, and have been part of 4 or 5 different productions of it, so I’d say I know it quite well! The teams from Bite My Thumb, Gravitas Entertainment and Cutting Edge Theatre have done a really good job it putting this show together. Director Neil Knipe has to be happy with his team and their performance, and I would hope he is very excited for the next three weeks of the company tour. The costumes for this production kept me entertained as at the start of the show, the whole cast, bar The Ronettes, were in black and white costumes, and the whole stage was a symphony of grey, but then, gradually, as the shop started to become more successful, and the plant grew, the cast started mixing in splashes of colour to their costumes, before the opening of the second act where we were treated to a multitude of bright and exciting costumes.
The set, was mostly just the flower shop and also gradually changed from a full grey scale to colour throughout the performance. The sound and lighting crew had an ok night. Most of the microphones were turned on at the right time, although we occasionally lost a few lines here and there. The lighting was interesting, as it changed quite frequently throughout the scenes, not always to the benefit of the viewer, and often not at a logical time. Musical Director Gavin Usher had a good night, with his somewhat reduced score band, they were right at the front of the stage and in sight of the whole audience, which was nice in the scene changes, but sometimes, we lost the on stage vocal behind the sound of the band, but, the band did a great job making this show come to life.
The programmes for the show were remarkable! A4, Full colour embossed and full of great info about the companies, which, from experience, are not cheap to produce, so kudos for that.
My final thanks goes to Nathan Winn, from Gravitas Entertainment for producing this show, I really hope the whole tour brings great success.
Reviewer - Simon Oliver
on - 19/9/19
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