Little Shop of Horrors – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Picture: Johan Persson

Little Shop of Horrors continues at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London until 22 September 2018.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Under Maria Aberg’s direction, this production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s 1982 classic glitters, often literally, with quality.

From the moment the anonymous hooded figures slide on to the all grey impoverished Skid Row set and Cat Beveridge’s (yes, a female MD – hurrah!) strikes up those first off-beat notes you know you’re in for a treat.

Based on Roger Corman’s film and loosely rooted in early 20thcentury sci-fi, Little Shop of Horrors famously tells the story of a man-eating plant which – in every sense – takes over a florist’s shop that’s down on its luck.

The real star of this production is Californian drag queen Vicky Vox who eventually emerges as the soul and mouth of the plant. Huge, loud voiced and terrifying in coloured hair, Wicked Witch red shoes and psychedelic leotard and make-up, she stalks menacingly around the set and auditorium. It’s a captivating performance.

The plant itself (puppet design by Max Humphries with Tom Scutt) is cleverly, and wittily contrived to grow into the monster it soon becomes with lots of clawed tentacles in a large smoke-filled upstage box. It’s the most convincing take on this fairly hard-to-stage concept I’ve seen.

There’s splendid work too from Marc Antolin as the shyly attractive Seymour who has somehow genetically engineered the plant which he names Audrey II. He has an attractive tenor voice which makes him very appealing and boy, can he dance.

Jemima Rooper is strong as the sweet-voiced, abused blonde Audrey so loved by Seymour. The role – all blonde wig and woeful froth – couldn’t be more different from her part in Norman Conquests at Chichester earlier this year. What a versatile actor Rooper is.

Also very enjoyable is Matt Willis as Audrey’s ghastly, horror film-esque dentist boyfriend and various other character roles. He uses his bass voice to fine dramatic effect and has cultivated a terrible laugh for this role.

As the all-singing all-dancing trio of street commentators Christina Modestou, Seyi Omooba and Renée Lamb hold the stage perfectly with their vibrant and harmonious twitching and bending to all that prestissimo music and Forbes Masson is well cast as the puzzled but pragmatic shopkeeper Mr Mushnik.

Tom Scutt’s excellent set uses lots of newspaper and grey model buildings on several levels with a ragged hole at the top to connote a poverty-struck spot where everyone’s self esteem is, initially, pretty low. The band is concealed behind the gap above the action.

I love the range of music and songs in this show from lyrical to street. The delicious quasi Klezmer wind interjections (orchestrations by Robby Merkin) in ‘Mushnik and Son’, a duet between Masson and Antolin, are a particular high spot.

Attending this show is like going to an energetic party – complete with balloons and streamers. Join in if you can. King Lear or Tosca it isn’t, but I guarantee that you’ll leave smiling.

Susan Elkin

Tickets for Little Shop of Horrors are available HERE