BWW REVIEWS: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Theatre By The Sea

Directed by Amiee Turner, Theatre By The Sea's third production of the 2010 season is a delightful production of the perennial community theater favorite, Little Shop of Horrors.

Based on Roger Corman's 1960 B-movie of the same name, the musical tells the story of a nebbish young man named Seymour (Guy Olivieri) who finds a plant that thrives on a peculiar type of plant food: Human flesh and blood.

Seymour is an orphan who, while still a young boy, was taken in by Mr. Mushnik (Joel Briel) to provide cheap labor at his flower shop.  Years later, the shop is barely surviving amid the urban decay and is in danger of closing, forcing Mushnick to lay off his two employees, Seymour and Audrey (Katerina Papacostas).  Seymour's discovery of a previously unknown species of fly-trap plant reverses his and the flower shop's fortunes.  He names the plant Audry II; publicly acknowledging his unrequited love for his co-worker.

Fame and fortune come at a price.  At first, Audrey II is content to feed on a few stray drops of blood from Seymour's fingers.  As the plant grows, so does its appetite. Seymour believes that he has found a way to satisfy Audrey II while possibly saving his co-worker Audrey's life.  He feeds Audrey's physically abusive boyfriend, Orin (Timothy John Smith), to Audrey II.  Problem solved. Or not.

Guy Olivieri gives a fine performance as Seymour.  Olivieri and Turner correctly keep Seymour as the comedic straight man in the production.  Other characters are over-the-top caricatures, but Seymour remains the grounded center, even when he isn't.

As Audrey, Katerina Papacostas is delightful.  Papacostas delivers the strongest individual vocal performance of the vocally strong cast.

Audiences may recognize Timothy John Smith from recent appearances in Trinity Rep's production of Richard III or The Receptionist.  Smith hams it up as the demented dentist Orin and does a great job with "Now (It's Just the Gas)".  After Orin's not-so-unfortunate death, Smith also turns up in multiple minor roles.
 
Joel Briel was enjoyable and entirely believable in the role of the miserly Mushnik.

In the role of Audrey II, Donovan James Carey as The Voice, and Evan Price as The Puppeteer are seamless. Carey gives a homage performance that would make the late Levi Stubbs proud.  Price displayed incredible stamina as he manipulated Audrey II from the inside of the puppet, during a hot, humid July night.  Audrey II was provided by Big Nazo, a performance group based in Providence, RI.

The girl group in this production is the talented trio of Rheume Crenshaw as Crystal, Angela Williams as Ronnette and Kerri J. Alexander as Chiffon.

Tim Robertson directed the spot-on pit orchestra.

Though it is hard to decipher just who influenced who, Little Shop has a more than a passing feel of a John Waters film.  The early rock-n-roll era, the gritty inner-city setting combined with basically good people committing reprehensible acts that seem appropriate in the situation, are elements that are strongly shared.

Directed by Amiee Turner, this production of Little Shop of Horrors is solidly entertaining with each of the elements working together smoothly to provide continuity to the production.

Little Shop of Horrors will play at Theater By The Sea through August 1, 2010.  Tickets range from $39 - $49, and can be purchased at the Box Office, which is located at 364 Cards Pond Road, Matunuck RI, by phone at (401) 782-8587 or online at www.theatrebythesea.com. Rush tickets are available on a limited basis one hour prior to curtain. 

Photo: Guy Olivieri as Seymour and Katerina Papacostas as Audrey
Photo by Mark Turek, courtesy of Theatre By The Sea

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