Porchlight’s Little Shop of Horrors is a Blooming Great Time!

 

**** Some musicals charm their audiences with energy and song; others make them laugh out loud. Little Shop of Horrors does both—and then some! Porchlight Music Theatre’s first production in its new home at the Biograph Theatre offers a thoroughly entertaining and fresh encounter with this beloved musical, pairing excellent leading performances with an impressive Audrey II puppet and scene-stealing comic turns by Adam Fane as Orin and a host of others.

If you are not aware of the history of this show, you need to know about the affection which underlies Little Shop of Horrors which has been building for more than four decades. With a start as a quirky Roger Corman B-movie starring Jack Nicholson, it transformed into a stage production beginning at the WPA Theatre in 1982, then transferred to the Orpheum Theatre in New York’s East Village. Its original Off-Broadway engagement lasted five years.  Its subsequent life—including a film adaptation of the musical, a Broadway production, international stagings, and a return to Off-Broadway in 2019—speaks to lasting appeal that extends well beyond nostalgic appeal. New generations of theatergoers find their way to the strange little flower shop.  The pleasure in the ever-lasting life of Little Shop is its wonderful if improbable balance of sweetness and savagery.

One of the great attractions of Little Shop of Horrors is its classic score. With music by Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, the musical draws on early-1960s rock and roll, doo-wop, and Motown, creating a sound that is both affectionately nostalgic and perfectly suited to its peculiar world. The brightness of the music provides the much-needed contrast with the darkness of the story. It’s no wonder the team went on to create some of Disney’s greatest films like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast among others, until Ashman’s untimely death.

Menken and Ashman’s achievement is not merely that the music is catchy. It is that the songs provide comedy, yearning, and danger to coexist without ever making the show feel like a collection of unrelated parts. The music is so inviting and memorable that it’s a score brings us back to see it over and over again.

Beneath the outrageous premise of a blood thirsty plant lies a story about lonely and abused people longing for love, recognition, and a way out of their circumstances. The humor is broad, the danger a bit fantastical, but it’s the emotional appeal that hits with joyous force. In a story of poverty and even murder, Porchlight’s strong principal cast gives audiences characters to care amidst the escalating mayhem.

Andrew Linden is excellent as Seymour Krelbourn, providing a compelling center for a story that grows increasingly out of control. Seymour needs to hold our interest and support even when the plant threatens to dominate the scene; Andrew’s performance gives the human side of this unlikely man-plant partnership its due. Chicagoland has seen its share of Seymours in recent productions and Andrew’s performance hits exactly the right notes for what this character is meant to anchor.

Alina Taber is quite impressive as Audrey, a character whose vulnerability is essential to the musical’s heart. A role iconically played by Ellen Greene in both the stage play and film versions and Taber does a respectful nod to that performance but also makes this her own especially in her shining numbers “Somewhere that’s Green” and “Suddenly Seymour.” We feel for her and are happy when she escapes her horrible circumstances, even though she doesn’t know it. She provides a great counterweight to Seymour and to Audrey II for that matter.

Steve McDonagh’s strong work as Mushnik is played with an appropriate nod to the Jewish roots of the character without crossing the line towards stereotype; he rounds out a leading trio that makes the flower shop’s human characters well worth watching.

And with all due respect to his talented castmates, Adam Fane is the production’s standout. Playing Orin, the dentist, as well as a multitude of other characters, Fane steals virtually every scene he enters without being distracting to fellow cast members. His humor and versatility make his appearances a continuing source of delight. These are not simply costume changes: he gives the various roles distinct comic identities, finding fresh opportunities for laughter each time he returns, sometimes in just seconds. In a musical populated by outsized personalities—and one very demanding plant—that is no small accomplishment.

Porchlight’s visual production provides plenty to enjoy with a colorful set that provides an effective home for the telling of the story while recognizing that the fantastic Audrey II Puppet is going to be seen as the central attraction. A production of Little Shop needs its plant to be more than a novelty, and this one is memorable and well executed by puppeteer Josh Bernaski with strong vocals provided by Juwon Tyrel Perry. After all, Audrey II must hold its own opposite a cast of colorful human characters, and this puppet and those who give it life, more than earn their place in the spotlight. Indeed, it gives the production a satisfying sense of spectacle.

Little Shop remains so very rewarding. Audiences can enjoy its outrageous premise and comedy but still respond to its characters’ seemingly large, though realistically modest dreams; and Porchlight’s Little Shop of Horrors is a lively reminder of why audiences keep returning to this musical. The principal performances are excellent, the design is well done, and the production overall provides a fabulous jolt of energy. This is a highly enjoyable visit to a flower shop where the entertainment reigns, even though the merchandise has a dangerous appetite.

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Porchlight Music Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors plays at the Biograph Theatre through December 13th.

The Little Shop of Horrors performance schedule is :

Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.,

Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays at 3 p.m.

call the Porchlight box office at 773-777-9884.

The Biograph Theatre is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue

Show Type: Musical

www.porchlightmusictheatre.org

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