Scott Suchman
No one in 1960, let alone director Roger Corman, would have guessed his low-budget, kitschy horror-comedy The Little Shop of Horrors would have enjoyed the longevity it’s had since the film’s premiere. But 22 years later, the writing duo of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken — seven years away from becoming the driving force behind the ‘Disney Renaissance’ of animation with The Little Mermaid — took Corman’s movie and turned it into a successful stage musical, which then became a popular 1986 movie musical (the same trajectory as John Waters’ Hairspray), and has become a staple in community theatre. A new off-Broadway revival launched in 2019, attracting the star power of Jonathan Groff, Tammy Blanchard, Jeremy Jordan, Skylar Astin, Rob McClure, Corbin Bleu, Darrin Criss, Lena Hall, Maude Apatow, Constance Wu and Evan Rachel Wood. Just in the past week or so, Bleu has returned to the role of Seymour with Jinkx Monsoon as Audrey. But playing concurrently with that show is a production at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. that might not have the same star power but certainly has more than enough talent on and off the stage to make this a must-see show.
If you’ve been on this planet for more than a couple of years you know the story of Little Shop of Horrors, and if you don’t here’s a very brief recap — Seymour Krelborn works at Mushnik’s Skid Row Florist alongside the owner as well as co-worker Audrey. Seymour has a crush on Audrey, Audrey is dating a sadistic dentist, and the shop is on its last legs until Seymour shows Mr. Mushnik a strange and unusual plant that suddenly appeared right after a total eclipse of the sun. They put the strange and unusual plant in the window, and suddenly the florist — and Seymour — are the talk of the town. But Seymour learns there is a lot more to this strange and unusual plant, which he has dubbed Audrey II, than meets the eye especially when it comes to the plant’s appetite, forcing Seymour to make some terrible decisions.
The book by Howard Ashman, and the music and lyrics by Ashman and Menken, are classics of musical theatre building on Corman’s original concept and injecting more humor and heart into the story, making Audrey a character you can’t help but fall in love with while Seymour has to remain sympathetic even when he’s doing some bad things. The score is also one of the best with its pop, doo wop and Motown influenced songs including the title song, ‘Skid Row (Downtown)’, ‘Somewhere That’s Green’, ‘Suppertime’ and ‘Suddenly, Seymour’, all of which will be running through your head long after the show has ended (and it should be noted that Audrey II’s big number ‘Mean Green Mother from Outer Space’ was written by Ashman and Menken for the film, earning an Oscar nomination, but does not appear in the show). Audiences only familiar with the movie may be surprised by the show’s ending which takes a very different turn than the movie.
While Little Shop of Horrors has a great story and even greater music, none of that would matter if it didn’t have a stellar cast to deliver the dialogue and lyrics. Derrick D. Truby, Jr. stars as Seymour in his Ford’s debut, giving the character a wide-eyed innocence at first, drawing sympathy from the audience as he relates how Mr. Mushnik took him in as a child and let him sleep under the counter, and basically using the young man as free labor for all these years. As Seymour learns of his plant’s true nature and is forced to do questionable things for it, the character could easily become a villain but through the writing and Truby’s performance, Seymour goes through a range of emotions until he’s eventually forced to take a stand. Truby makes this transformation believable and he delivers Seymour’s songs with a wonderful voice. A very well-rounded performance.
The character of Audrey has become so iconic thanks to the indelible performance of Ellen Greene both in the original show and the movie so it’s tough to see someone else take on the role. Chani Wereley usually plays Audrey, but for this particular presentation her understudy Nia Savoy-Dock, who usually plays Chiffon, stepped in and she was fabulous, really evoking the character as if she was channeling Greene but also making it her own and making the audience love her, especially when belting out Audrey’s signature tunes ‘Somewhere That’s Green’ and ‘Suddenly Seymour’. Audrey has such a different energy from Chiffon, so Ms. Savoy-Dock gets high praise for being able to switch gears like that and simply nail the part.
High praise also goes to Tori Gomez for taking over the role of Chiffon for the night, joining Kaiyla Gross and Kanysha Williams as Ronnette and Crystal, respectively. The three act as the show’s ‘Greek chorus’, commenting on the action as well as interacting with Seymour and Audrey, and when the three of them sing together their harmonies are something special. Lawrence Redmond is properly cranky as Mr. Mushnik, while Joe Mallon steals the spotlight as Audrey’s dentist boyfriend Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. and several other characters. Tobias A. Young provides the voice of Audrey II — really sounding like Levi Stubbs from the movie — while the various incarnations of the plant are manipulated, masterfully, by Ryan Sellers and Jay Frisby (both of whom also appear onstage as Skid Row derelicts). The Audrey II puppets are also quite stunning, particularly the largest version in Act II, and the puppeteers do an amazing job of bringing it to life.
Scott Suchman
The scenic design for the show by Paige Hathaway is stunning, with a large setpiece representing the interior of the flower shop that rolls up and down stage, visibly changing throughout the show as Audrey grows and takes over almost all of the space, vines and roots spreading across the floor and up the walls. When that set is not on stage, the exterior of the shop is visible to all the denizens of Skid Row. One of the buildings also as a fire escape/balcony that is also utilized to great effect, and it’s all lit to perfection by Max Doolittle, never over-lit, and giving Audrey II a nice green spotlight when the plant is riled up. Alejo Vietti’s costumes are terrific, especially the Supremes-inspired gowns donned by Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon at times. My only nitpick is one of Audrey’s dresses that is actually a bit too chaste and misses the point of the joke when she talks about how cheap she used to dress compared to the ‘classy’ dress she is currently wearing … which should still be kind of a cheap, leopard-printy number but not as low-cut as the ones she described. A minor quibble but it is a joke that always gets a laugh and now it kind of doesn’t make sense. Kevin S. McAllister’s direction and Ashleigh King’s choreography keep the show — and the cast — moving smoothly from start to finish, utilizing the stage from top to bottom, always keeping things visually interesting. Great job by everyone involved.
If you love Little Shop of Horrors and can’t get to New York, you certainly cannot go wrong with this production at Ford’s Theatre. It has everything you’d want from the show — a great cast, a gorgeous set with stunning lighting, great technical skill, and a giant talking, singing plant. You couldn’t ask for much more.
Note: From April 22-May 18 the role of Seymour will be played by Jake Loewenthal. Derrick B. Truby Jr. had to withdraw from the production for personal reasons.
Little Shop of Horrors runs about 2 hours with one 15 minute intermission. The show runs through May 18, 2024. Visit the official website for more information.
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