A Heavenly "Shop of Horrors"

Little Shop of Horrors -- Playhouse on Park -- Thru Oct. 16

Steven Mooney and Audrey II. All photos by
Meredith Atkinson save where noted

There’s nothing horrible about the “Little Shop of Horrors” up at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford. In fact, it’s a delight from start to finish, a sprightly musical comedy (albeit dark comedy) with a terrific cast that generates enough energy to light up most of Park Road.

Directed and choreographed by Susan Haefner with a deft touch for timing and creative blocking, the show moves along at a quick pace, the tone for which is set before the curtain as the three waifs, Crystal (Cherise Clarke), Chiffon (Brandi Porter) and Ronette (Famecia Ward) work the audience, introducing their characters and giving out hugs. Their activity seamlessly segues into the opening number, “Little Shop of Horrors,” and the following “Skid Row,” which introduces Mr. Mushnik (Damian Buzzerio), owner of the Skid Row Florist Shop, and his two employees, the nerdish Seymour (Steven Mooney) and the much-abused Audrey (the delightful Emily Kron).

          Cherise Clarke as Crystal, Famecia Ward as
          Ronnette, Brandi Porter as Chiffon, and
Emily Kron as Audrey.

 

With zero sales, Mushnik decides to close the shop’s doors, only to have Seymour reveal that he has been nurturing a rather strange plant that he has named Audrey II (voiced by Rasheem Ford and manipulated by Susan Slotoroff). Immediately, things take a turn for the better, once Seymour realizes that what Audrey II craves is human blood (“Grow for Me”). However, the plant’s hunger soon becomes insatiable as it cries out to be fed. What is Seymour to do? Well, Audrey is currently dating a “pseudo-sadist,” a dentist named Orin Scrivello (Aidan Eastwood -- DDS!!!). Orin manages to asphyxiate himself in a delightfully dark comic scene and is promptly turned into plant food. As things get better for the florist shop and for Seymour, the plant’s needs grow and grow until it is finally revealed the vegetation’s goal is total world domination. The ultimate lesson is offered in the final number: “Don’t Feed the Plants.”

  Famecia Ward as Ronnette, Rasheem Ford as Audrey I
          (voice), Steven Mooney as Seymour, Emily Kron as Audrey,
       and Aidan Eastwood as Orin Scrivello, DDS (photo: Rich Wagner)

 

You can’t help but smile as this tale of faux-menace unfolds, for the entire cast has bought into the absurd premise and knows how to play up the weird humor that suffuses the book and lyrics penned by Howard Ashman, and it doesn’t hurt that the music was composed by Alan Menken. Clarke, Porter and Ward are sassy and sharp, and their voices mesh beautifully as they strut, pose and preen, creating a Skid Row Greek chorus. There are also entertaining set pieces and signature numbers, all of which are brought off with aplomb and a great deal of style. Buzzerio brings a touch of Fagin (a la the musical “Oliver”) to his portrayal of the florist shop’s owner, and his duet with Mooney, “Mushnik and Son,” deftly choreographed by Haefner, was totally engaging.

Damian Buzzerio

 

Mooney gives the audience just the right touch of the bedraggled soul who grasps at his one chance for success, an opportunity that merely requires that he feed the plant. As his character “blossoms,” Mooney shows he has a strong bent for physical comedy and knows how to deliver a song.

Eastwood has, perhaps, the greatest challenge, for not only must he portray the sadistic dentist, he must also take on several additional roles, including that of a female rep for Life Magazine and, as the program indicates, “Everyone Else.” He pulls all of this off with costume quick-changes and variations in swagger and delivery that nicely delineate each of the characters.

And then there’s Kron, who is faced with making the role that has the strongest “copyright,” since it was created by Ellen Green in the original production and the subsequent film, her own. This she does with a great deal of comic flair and sensitivity, and her rendition of “Somewhere That’s Green,” a classic “I Want” number, is heartbreakingly poignant, as is her cri de coeur in the “Suddenly, Seymour” duet with Mooney.   

Given the relative intimacy of the Playhouse on Park thrust stage configuration, much of what happens is mere feet from the front row of the audience, which Haefner takes advantage of, often bringing her actors forward so that the emotions their characters are feeling and expressing wash over the audience and the kinetic energy generated by this talented cast, enhanced by an emotive lighting scheme by Christopher Bell, crackles, snaps and reaches the last seat in the farthest row undiminished and undiluted.

Playhouse on Park’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” is what I might term “happy theater,” for you can sense that the cast is happy to be doing what they are doing and you can’t deny that the audience left the theater humming a tune and, well, happy – a win-win proposition.

“Little Shop of Horrors” runs through Oct. 16. For tickets or more information call 860-523-5900, X10, or go to www.playhouseonpark.org