Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Platte Valley Players

Down on Skid Row, there's a flower shop that eats people. Currently, that little shop has rooted itself just outside of Denver.

Little Shop of Horrors is currently playing at Brighton's Armory Performing Arts Center, and the plant's not the only killer part of the production. Director Kelly Van Oosbree has compiled a talented cast that breathes new life into the campy Alan Menken/Howard Ashman musical.

If you're unfamiliar with the story, it follows Seymour, a flower shop worker who acquires a new plant that demands to be fed. He names it Audrey II, after the coworker he's in love with, but she's in an abusive relationship with a demented dentist. While the plant's growth skyrockets the shop to fame, it also has other plans for world domination.

The cult classic, which is based on a 1960s film of the same name, also inspired another more popular movie in the mid-'80s. Basically, if you haven't caught a live production of Little Shop yet, you should really get on that.

And there's no better place than PVP's current production. Charlie Schmidt makes a charmingly awkward Seymour, paired alongside beltress Abby McInerney as an impeccable Audrey. The Dentist, along with several other bit parts, is played with a wacky wit from Cory Wendling. BranDon Phelps is an classic Mushnik, the flower shop owner. The pitch-perfect trio of street urchins are Bethany Luhrs, Jasmine Jones and Katherine Paynter. Several plants, created by Cory Gilstrap, are puppeteered by Fiona Wohlwarth. Larry T. Davis provides the iconic voice of Audrey II.

Little Shop of Horrors plays the Brighton Armory through Sept. 25. Tickets and showtimes are available at PlatteValleyPlayers.org.

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