LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS To 1 September.
London.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman music by Alan Menken.
New Anmbassadors Theatre To 3 November 2007.
Mon-Sat 7.45pmMat Wed & Sat 3pm.
originally in the West End at the Duke of York's Theatre.
TICKETS : 08448 112334.
www.littleshopthemusical.com
Review : Geoff Ambler 12 March 2007.
Little Shop of Delights.
This Menier transfer opens in the West End much improved. It springs into life with the second number, ‘Skid Row’. Here the entire cast reflect on living downtown and Seymour and Audrey’s life at the bottom of the pile. It’s full of despair and hope and harmonies; Paul Keating’s Seymore and Sheridan Smith’s Audrey send shivers down the spine.
The centre-piece for most of the show is the magnificent plant Audrey II, which meets all the requirements for being mean, green and bad, in a good way. It now allows more articulation and a wider range of expression, though the finale, which originally allowed the plant to spread over the whole of the Menier’s compact theatre space, now lacks that ominous presence, the plant hanging above, raining spores around.
David Farley’s set has gained depth but lost a lot of width, while the iron fire-escape and dustbins either side produce numerous sight-line problems from the edges of the stalls.
The performance of the show remains Smith’s Audrey. She completely inhabits the not-so-dumb blond, sparkles like the glitter on her flower arrangements and switches up the sex-appeal to overload time and time again. If she’s not the greatest singer in the West End, she packs humour, passion and life into every number; from the poignancy of ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ with Audrey’s dreams for a washer, dryer and ironing machine, to the passion in ‘Suddenly Seymour’ which finishes with an epic snog that almost needs its own interval.
While Keating’s flower-shop nerd Seymour doesn’t get the laughs Smith does, it doesn’t diminish his performance. Seymour is hero of this love story with murder, revenge and selfless sacrifice; he embraces it all in Seymour’s flawed but endearing character.
Alistair McGowan, replacing Jasper Britton, is the only cast change. He brings new energy to the masochistic dentist. Barry James (the original West End Seymour) is Mr Mushnik, whose flower shop our two heroes meet in and whose desire not to lose the shop’s centre piece leads to his eventual demise. Comedian Mike McShane
Audrey: Sheridan Smith.
Seymore: Paul Keating.
Orin Scrivello: Alistair McGowan.
Mushnik: Barry James.
Audrey II - Voice: Mike McShane except 2-14 April Clive Rowe.
Chiffon: Katie Kerr.
Crystal: Melitsa Nicola.
Ronette: Jenny Fitzpatrick.
Audrey II – Puppeteer: Andy Heath.
Director: Matthew White.
Designer/Costume: David Farley.
Lighting: Paul Anderson.
Sound: Gareth Owen.
Musical Supervision: Caroline Humphris.
Choreographer: Lynne Page.
2007-03-16 01:30:34