Little Shop of Horrors Tour Review

[James885]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 4:26pm

I"m new here and this is my first attempt at reviewing a show, so we'll see how it turns out.

This past saturday, my family and I went to see the matinee performance of Little Shop of Horrors at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, MD. I was really looking forward to seeing it after being introduced to the revival cast recording by a friend. I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to see well because we had upper balcony seats, but soon found out I had nothing to worry about. The Hippodrome has an extremely intamate feel for a theatre that seats over 2,000, and the balcony was very steep, so we had a clear view of the stage.

The show had a great beginning. I loved the way the logo on the show curtain turned red during the prologue. The opening number "Little Shop of Horrors" was great, and Yasmeen Sulieman, Amina S. Robinson, and LaTonya Holmes were awesome as the three urchins. They were great all through the show and I especially liked their costumes at the end of "The Meek Shall Inherit." Jonathan Rayson was a phenomenal Seymour. He did a great job bringing out the nerdiness of the character. It was so funny during "Grow for Me" when he was kinda playing with the plant and moving his finger up and down and side to side.

Tari Kelly was a sensational Audrey. She has a great voice and her rendition of "Somewhere That's Green" was wonderful. She also got lots of laughs from the audience when she sang "I know Seymour's the greatest,but I'm dating a semi-sadist." Jonathan and Tari's duet "Suddenly Seymour" was brilliantly sung and, in my opinion, was one of the best songs in the show.

Ray DeMattis was great as Mr. Mushnik, and James Moye was good as Orin, and a few other roles. The one thing I did notice was that when James Moye was playing the role of Bernstein, Skip, and Mrs. Luce, his voice sounded the same for all 3 characters. Michael James Leslie was great providing the voice for Audrey 2, and really brought the plant to life (along with the puppeteers, of course).

The lighting was very nicely done. I liked how they did the lightning and the rain effects in the second act. The sets were also nice. I liked the shop set, it was very colorful when they added all the flowers. Audrey 2 itself was definatly a sight to behold , especially in its largest state. The finale "Don't feed the plants" definatly ended the show on a high note. One last thing: during the curtain call after the entire cast took their bows, the puppeteer in one of the branches grabbed one the urchins and moved her to the mouth just as the curtain was coming down, so it looked like Audrey 2 was about to eat the urchin!

All in all, I loved every minute of the show and everyone in it did a superb job. It's too bad that the show closed on Broadway, so I won't be able to see it when I come to New York next month, but I'll most definatly see it again if it ever comes back to the Baltimore/Washington area in the future

[DoubleDown11]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 4:49pm

Thanks for that James. I plan on checking this out on Saturday here in Boston. I know this is a long shot but do you happen to know if this tour does a rush? If they don't I plan on getting half price tickets on the day of the performance. I am very much looking forward to this...I can't wait for Saturday.

[James885]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 4:52pm

I know the Hippodrome did a student rush before each performance. I'd check with the theatre that it's playing at in Boston to see if they have a rush.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 5:49pm

Yeah, they did the plant-eats-Urchin routine on Broadway, too... It was cute! I'm so glad you liked this production!

[Dolly_Levi]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 6:12pm

Great review - especially for your first time out. Thanks and keep em coming.

[sanda]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 7:32pm

I like Audrey, AudreyII and Seymour. I am a little disappointed for Orin because the role I expect and care the most is this role. Maybe Steve Martin in the movie is too good. Here I feel he lacked the hilarious and crazy point.

[noahrp3]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 7:36pm

I saw it with Anthony Rapp in LA. I think both Seymour and Audrey (Teri Kelly) both lacked charisma and I didn't think that they were too good together. But the set was amazing and I absolutely love the urchins. I also love the new orchestrations woth actual instuments instead of a bunch of synthesizers.

[James885]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 7:44pm

Yeah, I liked the character of Orin. I would love to play that part. I would have a ball singing "Dentist!"

[neocomposer]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 7:45pm

I saw it in March, and Tari Kelly had me almost in tears with her "Somewhere that's Green". This is pretty good since I have always liked Ellen Greene more than anyone else!

I was very pleased with this show.

[random4322]

Posted: 5/2/05 at 10:26pm

Does anyone know if there is a discount code for this show? Specifically the one in Boston. Or how some money can be saved off the price. My friends and I would love to go, but being young high school students, we would have a much better chance of attending if the tickets were lower priced. We do not have much knowledge of ticket sales so we are at a loss of what to do.

[DoubleDown11]

Posted: 5/3/05 at 9:23am

Random...try to get day of tickets at the Bostix kiosks. Bostix sells tickets at 50% plus a small fee for any tickets remaining for that day's performances. I plan on doing this on Saturday. I believe it opens at 11. You can find these booths at Quincy Market or Copley (accross from the Copley T stop near the park with the Catholic church). Good luck!

[mntwister]

Posted: 5/3/05 at 9:59am

Thanks for the review James. I have tickets for the Minneapolis stop and am anxious to see, 1st row center