Audiences have been loving LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS! Check out the review below posted on the Nextdoor App – and get your tickets for the final weekend HERE
“Went to the Cailloux Theater, and enjoyed a production of Little Shop of Horrors! What a great show. So let me review this.
Perfect subject for Halloween Weekend. Probably not for younger kids, but for those who saw the movie, and enjoyed the characters, songs and the MONSTER, it was great fun.
The actors are pro-level. I make this distinction, because the house was way less than full. Yet these folks gave every it thing they had.
The staging was first rate, the puppeteers worked hard, especially the puppeteer running the giant plant.
Each character was fully fleshed out, with personality, and verve. The lead roles were stelar, from Audrey’s timorousness, to Seymore’s feckless yearnings, to Mushnik’s kvetching. Audrey 2 was seriously an evil presence, which is extremely difficult for a moving prop. The puppeteer and voice actor did miracles with that character.
The voices cannot be left unmentioned. All were really good, but lets take a full stop: the Singer in the Greek chorus, Ronnette, played by Anekah Longoria pays tribute to her Mariachi roots in her bio, and when she sings she proves it. She can BELT a song! What power and such a clear voice! All three girls in that role were superb, and call us back to a time when doowop music was played from transistor radios everywhere you turn. Their looks, acting and costuming took us there.
Faith Mooney was incredible as Audrey. Her accent was superb, and she played the character to the hilt.
Johnathon Bowen as Seymore has quite a spectrum of shades. He is a scared, feckless, unsure lost soul at one moment and an avenging hero when he’s singing about plant food. That one part really sold me as it is a turning point in the story, and critical. The rapid fire delivery in the Dentist Chair was incredible. Never dropped a word.
Brandon Cunningham had the difficult job of acting well, yet making people hate him. Playing a villain, even one of the lesser evils, is tough, but I am sure everyone in the audience was glad to see how things turned out for him. Lovers of the films (the musical AND the Corman original), will appreciate the gas mask. Well done.
The band was tight, never missed a cue, for being off stage, and had great sound levels. Knowing it was a live band added a huge amount to thelevels of enjoyment.
Finally: the bit actors. People with no lines, and very little action. They NEVER let up. They stayed in character and lent the street scene a sense of “being there”. They were onlookers, and perhaps even people who didn’t see the action but only heard about it. That made the audience a part of the street scene, too.
I was impressed with everyone in this production, even if I didn’t get to mention them. It worked. It sold me, and I am a very strict purist when it comes to interpretations of an old favorite of mine.
There is still time to catch this gem. We are lucky to have such a fine performing group.”
