I like to think of "Little Shop of Horrors" as the "little musical that could." Like the Roger Corman movie on which it is based, this is a small cast, low budget, genuinely funny horror musical that shows no sign of slowing down. Alan Menkin's music and Howard Ashman's book and lyrics are unsurpassed in creativity, ingenuity and economy. Every moment is a delight.
Equinox Theatre Company's current production of "Little Shop," about a nerdy loser who sells his soul to a carnivorous demon plant from outer space to win self-esteem, a fortune and the girl of his dreams only to lose himself, gets it right from the "get go," and then tosses in a couple of twists that lives up to the production's tag line "as you've never seen it before."
In nearly every scene, hapless nebbish Seymour has to carry the action, and Mark Shonsey is more than up to the task. With brilliant physical humor and facial gymnastics, an expressive voice and a perfectly realized character Shonsey gives a star-caliber performance, setting the bar high for the rest of the performers. Lauren Cora Marsh is wonderfully sympathetic as the much-abused shop girl Audrey who dreams of suburban security, Shannon McCarthy has several great moments as the flower shop owner Mushnik, and Kurt Brighton is outrageously versatile as a sadistic dentist and "Everyone Else."
Chachi Martin, Kansas Lynn Battern and Celia Jones play very hip yet tacky street urchins right out of the cast of "Grease." But the most remarkable casting and directorial innovation of the production is ...
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...Ashley Menard as the diabolical, man-eating plant Audrey II. Yes, instead of a gigantic puppet voiced by a male R&B bass singer, the role is played live by an alluringly voluptuous cabaret singer in a mermaid-like, tendril enhanced fan foliage costume, complete with corset and vine-like boa. Though in retrospect, it occurred to me that the human race might have had a chance of survival if Seymour had been more of a "leg man."
Director Colin Roybal has made an extraordinary artistic choice here. After proving that this company is fully capable of mounting a high quality and comfortingly familiar production of a beloved and well-known musical, he takes the show's biggest "given," then turns it all around. And it works! Seymour's instinctive naming of the plant after his would-be girlfriend, the seductive slippery slope to moral compromise, the man-devouring femme fatale who gives a guy everything he wants only to take it all back and more, it's genius! Rather than bullying Seymour into submission with a commanding (and typically interpreted as "black" villain), Audrey II lures him in with feminine wiles and charms, the velvety touch of coaxing, whining and nagging, a bit of the dominatrix and a Siren's insistent voice. If you're going to take over a male-dominated planet, you don't need much more than that!
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This funny, exciting and innovative production of one my my favorite musicals may not have cost my soul, but it certainly stole my heart, captivated my mind, and had me practically dancing in the aisle.
Equinox Theatre Company's production of "Little Shop of Horrors" plays through June 18 at the historic and quirky Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo Street, Denver. Tickets are $12-$15. Call 720-984-0781 or visit www.equinoxtheatredenver.com for information or to purchase tickets.
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