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Regional Reviews: Florida - Southern Little Shop of Horrors Also see John's review of Summer Shorts
Little Shop of Horrors tells the story of Seymour Krelborn (Michael Westrich), a nerdy orphan working at Mushnik's, a flower shop in urban Skid Row. He harbors a secret crush on fellow co-worker Audrey (Amy Miller Brennan) and is berated daily by his boss Mr. Mushnik (Matthew Korinko). Seymour gets more than he bargained for when, during a "total eclipse of the sun," he discovers a "strange and unusual" unidentified new plant, which he affectionately names Audrey II (after his crush). This new breed of plant seems to have a craving for human blood, and its presence in the store has suddenly provided them all fame and fortune. The plant, which demonstrates its ability to speak, urges Seymour to "give him what he needs," and Audrey's sadistic and abusive boyfriend, Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., appears to be a likely place to start. Over time, Seymour discovers Audrey II's out of this world origins and intent towards global domination. Will Audrey II take over the world or will Seymour and Audrey defeat it? The musical featuring music by Alan Menken, and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman is based on Roger Corman's low-budget, 1960 B movie of the same name. The musical premiered Off-Off-Broadway in 1982 before moving to the Orpheum Theatre Off-Broadway, where it ran for five years. A film version of the musical was released in 1986 starring Ellen Greene and Rick Moranis. What's not to like in this campy, cult classic musical? The Slow Burn productions at the West Boca Performing Arts Center have always had good technical design aspects, with effective lighting, clear sound, and creative scenic design. Scenic designer Sean McClelland has framed the dingy Skid Row scenes with his depiction of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night to enhance the otherworldly feel surrounding the sequence of events following the arrival of Audrey II. Andrew Gilbert leads the live band that included Roy Fantel, Guillermo Gonzalez, Caryl Fantel, and Pat Ward and, as always, they sound great. Slow Burn has really mastered their audio blend between instrumentalists and singers in this space. Here's hoping they are as successful in their new home at the Broward Center. The undeniable success of this production is anchored in the performances of Michael Westrich as Seymour and Amy Miller Brennan as Audrey. The character of Seymour plays into all of Westrich's strengths, sitting vocally in the ideal range and style, and catering to a slightly nebbishy, everyman charm. It's really a perfect role for him, and he plays it with sincerity and truth rather than musical comedy shtick. He is partnered with Amy Miller Brennan who is simply the quintessential Audrey. She is a magical mixture of cheap and innocent, voluptuous and vulnerable. Together they put this production up and over the top. Our trio of sassy, singing street urchins are Christine Alexander (Crystal), Elisa Danielle (Ronette), and Nicole Dikun (Chiffon). They sound great together, but need to hone moving as one unit in the appropriate places. Sometimes they are better served by acting as individuals, but sometime they really need to just be like every girl group of the time period. So they need to tighten it up a bit. Costuming for the girls is disappointing, as usually they get costume changes to reflect the money coming in to both them and Mushnik. In this production they wear the same outfits until the finale. Costume changes would add fun while mimicking the Motown-inspired girl group feel. Regardless of that, however, the girls sound great, and one cannot help but notice their excellent group focus and volume, especially in the song "Downtown" at the top of the show. Shane Tanner does more than double duty, playing Audrey's boyfriend Orin and everyone else in the ensemble. He's got the edge and swagger of an Elvis meets S&M Orin, but needs to sell a little more of his slick and sexy side. One can barely imagine how much he has to remember, since he is playing so many characters—of different ages, genders and ethnicities. It's fun just following him through the show, and he does a great job with it all. Frankly, I'd have preferred seeing multiple characters playing the other roles as it made me too aware of following Shane to see how he'd make the next costume change and alter his voice and walk. Matthew Korinko is crusty as Mr. Mushnik, who is a tad too much of an opportunist to be completely likeable. I'd have preferred the character demonstrate genuine regard for Seymour at some point, but I assume that was a directorial choice. I must call attention to the voice (Geoffrey Short) and puppeteer (Rick Pena) behind our Audrey II. Short brings the coarse character to life in dialogue and song. Pena, who previously demonstrated fine work constructing Slow Burn's puppets for Avenue Q, demonstrates his ability to bring character to life through movement. Composer Alan Menken is best known for his work on films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Newsies, Home on the Range, Enchanted, Tangled, The Shaggy Dog, and Mirror Mirror. Lyricist Howard Ashman collaborated with Menken on Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin. The Slow Burn Theatre production of Little Shop of Horrors will be appearing through June 28, 2015. The theatre is located at the West Boca Performing Arts Center on the campus of West Boca High School, at 12811 West Glades Rd. in Boca Raton (3.5 miles west of 441). For more information on Slow Burn you may contact them by phone at 866-811-4111, or line at www.slowburntheatre.com. Slow Burn Theatre Company is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) professional theatre company hiring local non-Equity and Equity actors and actresses. They are committed to bringing high-quality contemporary musical theatre to South Florida, and to proving that modern Broadway can rock. Stay tuned for their impending move to their new permanent home at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts next season. For those theatregoers who have grown accustomed to seeing professional theatrical productions at the West Boca Performing Arts Center-never fear, as it will be the new home of the Marquee Theatre Company, operated by co-founders Ben Solmor and Andrew Shultz. The Marquee will open their 2015-2016 season on September 25th with the musical Aida. For tickets and information, please go to marqueetheatercompany.com. Cast: Crew: *These actors appear through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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