Interview: John McGuiness of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at the Masque Theatre Talks Musical Direction

The Masque, by arrangement with DALRO (Pty) Limited, is presenting Little Shop of Horrors! This hit Broadway musical will be performed from 22 August until 6 September. The cult classic features popular songs written by Howard Ashman with music by Alan Menken, such as "Suddenly Seymour", "Feed Me" and "Dentist". Join the team for a hilarious musical romp as they delve into the world of the hapless Seymour, the down-trodden Audrey and the fiendishly delightful carnivorous plant Audrey II!

BroadwayWorld chats to John McGuiness, the musical director for the production, who has been involved in around 30 musicals in various roles including musical director, pit musician and performer. He has worked on school, amateur, university and fringe productions, and composed/arranged music for small ensembles, including for a short film. He also conducted the Rhodes University Chamber Choir in 2010, and greatly enjoys making music with singers and instrumentalists.

Let’s start off with – You've performed and directed all over the world – where are you from originally? Tell me a bit about your theatre experiences overseas.

I grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe, and I got involved with the main community theatre there (Reps) from a very early age. The first musical I was in was THE JUNGLE BOOK, at the age of seven, and that got me hooked. I started learning the piano around that age too, and then the violin when I was a bit older. I also took singing lessons and performed a great deal from when I was around 10 or 11, learning to "belt" during a production of OLIVER.

Yes, I have been very fortunate to have been able to travel around quite a lot, especially after completing my degree. I got involved with a wonderful youth orchestra from the US called the New England Youth Ensemble, and obtained a music scholarship to the college where they are based, near Washington DC. The NEYE has toured extensively all over the world (including South Africa several times) and that took me to Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House, just to name-drop two at the top of a long list of incredible venues we have performed in. While I was studying at the college, I also got involved in musical theatre there, and was really able to cut my teeth with our production of INTO THE WOODS, for which I played piano and assisted with the musical direction.

Do you have a favourite role in theatre? What do you see yourself as primarily–musician/performer etc?

 This is a difficult question, as there are many aspects of each that I find enjoyable. If I had to choose I'd probably say pit musician, and in particular playing the piano. The best experiences I've had doing that have been INTO THE WOODS, ME AND MY GIRL (Harare), and CABARET (Hexagon Theatre, Pietermaritzburg).

What’s your favourite musical?

Another difficult question! When I was younger I might have said LES MIS, but I have since acquired a great love for Sondheim, so I think I'd have to say SWEENEY TODD.

Which musical instruments do you play/which is your favourite?

My first instrument is piano, and second is violin. I've also picked up the bass guitar, and more recently started to learn drums. I am a terrible guitarist (my wife, Caitlin, is a lot better!) but fortunately just good enough to be able to play some of the parts for shows.

Tell me about your process as musical director in this production – how do you go about lifting the music notes off the page to get the best from your performers?

JM: To start with, I got as familiar with the score as I possibly could and did a thorough analysis, so I knew exactly how everything is supposed to work, musically.

Next I focused on vocal arrangements. Normally this show is done with eight actors, and some of the minor roles are doubled up (traditionally by the actor who plays Orin the dentist). For our production, since we were fortunate enough to have so many talented people audition, we supplemented the cast with an ensemble. Thus, for the larger numbers like "Skid Row," I had to rearrange some of the voice parts to suit our particular group of 15 (with a plethora of altos!) I also tweaked one or two of the songs to suit the voice ranges of the leads.

Describe the show in three words.

JM: Creepy, fun, irreverent.

What should audiences take away from the production?

JM:  The great thing about art and especially theatre is the reaction from the audience is nearly always surprising, often in many different ways, so it's not really for me to say or predict what people should take away. I suppose I can only hope they enjoy what Jeffrey and I have done with the production and go away humming the tunes.

Do you have a favourite song in the show?

As you may have gleaned, I find questions about favourites hard to answer, and this is no exception, as there is so much of this music I have loved for a very long time. If I had to pick one it would probably be "Somewhere That's Green".

Tell me a bit about staging the show in 2025 – has the production team made any big changes/does it adhere to the original show etc.

This is more a question for our director, however I would say it is perhaps closer to the original 1982 show, in that it is darker and more gritty than the show has come to be known. I can't give too much away but there is quite an interesting twist with regards to Audrey II's reimagining.

Finally, throughout the process, musically my golden rule has been to trust the pair of geniuses - Alan Menken and Howard Ashman - who wrote this musical, and to make every effort to ensure that our production honours their original intentions, while at the same time making the music match well with the vision of our wonderfully talented director.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS runs from 14 August to 6 September at the Masque Theatre. Tickets cost R180.00 and are available via Quicket.